Sonic Chao Chronicles: First Lap
by Kindom Rider92
Summary: Chris could have had a normal life of luxary... until an odd Chao showed up. Now, with the ability to become a super fast hedgehog and having to deal with evil scientists and magical gems, high school life is the least of his problems. 1st in CC Series.
1. Introduction and Prologue

**Sonic: Chao Chronicles**

_First Lap_

By Kingdom Rider92

A/N: Well, well, well… I can tell that you're thinking: Where the bloody _**hell**_ is _Kingdom Skies,_ you jerk? …Yeah, totally _forgot_ about that. I'm really sorry, people, but this happens. BUT! Before you start trying to find out where I live and how you can kill me, hear me out.

First of all, this: I'm sure many, if not _all_ of you have heard of an anime _Sonic X,_ right? It had the potential of being an awesome anime… if 4Kids hadn't gotten to it, first. And if they actually _used_ more stuff based off of the games and had that extra season that people were all hyped up about, then that would be great, too. Well, the _Chao Chronicles_ shares some similarities with _Sonic X,_ but at the same time- I may have been hyped up on sugar when I was thinking this- some elements from _Power Rangers_ and _Mega Man Star Force_ (more so _Star Force_ than _Power Rangers_ in my opinion). There's also going to be quite a lot of references to the games, so it won't be a hundred percent based off of the _Sonic X_ anime.

Second: This idea, although caused by boredom and possibly sugar, is not one of a possible train wreck. Now, I know people didn't like the addition of Gary Stu and Mary Sue characters introduced in _Sonic X-_ heck, I didn't. So, for this, I'll try to keep them as simple and avoid complete overpowering as much as possible. If someone spots a sense of Mary Sue/Gary Stu, please inform me ASAP. That way, I can edit it. By the way, I'm still keeping Chris as the true main human protagonist, _but_ he's not the only human protagonist that takes real action.

Third and last: Although this is based off of more of the games and less _Sonic X,_ for the sake of things, there will be fan characters based off of the main heroes and villains (to keep the plot moving) as well as a couple fan characters of my own design. Only a couple will take some serious roles, and not all will be introduced at once. Also, I forgot to mention this, but there will be quite obvious changes for the sake of the story.

So, just give me a chance with all of this before you stone me to death with whatever you can get your hands on. That out of my system, let's get this potential train wreck rolling!

**DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN FICTION. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND ALL CHARACTERS RELATED TO OR BASED OFF OF THE SONIC FRANCHISE BELONG TO SEGA AND SONIC TEAM. THIS DISCLAIMER GOES FOR ALL CHAPTERS/EPISODES, SO DON'T EXPECT TO SEE THIS AGAIN.**

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**Prologue: Origins of the Chao, the Emeralds, and the Robotniks**

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_**Personal Diary Log- Entry 1**_

_Our world was once a peaceful place. If it wasn't for the Chaos Emeralds, though, it could have possibly stayed that way. The way people squabble over them these days is much less convincing that they're good for the world. To me, they're both a blessing from the gods above… as well as curse from the demons of hell._

_They say that the Chaos Emeralds were created long ago when life on our world first began. Well, as my great grandfather discovered, the Emeralds originated long _before_ true life began on the planet. They just didn't come to our planet until _after_ life started on the planet._

_The Chaos Emeralds were created by a water guardian of a mystical race of adorable aliens that visited our planet when life was beginning on it. The aliens came on an island shaped spaceship on a pioneer voyage. The aliens seemed to have the power to alter their DNA based on the animals that they interact with. And they brought their most valued treasures- the Chaos Emeralds, their very life sources, and the Master Emerald, which was the only thing that could control the Emeralds should their power go out of control- with them to our world, and settled here. It wasn't long before these aliens- simply called the Chao- were discovered by the daughter of the chief of the nearby village._

_The thing was- according to my great grandfather's findings- that the tribes of the world at the time were mostly made up of animals that had human like characteristics. My great grandfather calls them "Mobians" in his notes. Anyways, the chief's daughter was an echidna, who easily made peace with the leader of the Chao immigrants at the time, playing with the Chao every chance she could. And the Chao's guardian was also tamed by the echidna girl as well. They could have gone like this forever… until the girl's tribe discovered the power that the emeralds possessed._

_The tribe of echidnas that the girl was a part of was a powerful war tribe. With the girl's father as their leader, they had conquered a good third of the world thus far. But it wasn't enough for them- they wanted more land, slaves, food, money- all the things desired of greed. And when they discovered this small, nearly harmless race of aliens living right next door to their main village, the chief decided to take the Emeralds and use them to finish conquering the world._

_So, they invaded. Outnumbered in forces, the Chao were easily overtaken by the echidna tribe, who attempted to steal the Chaos Emeralds. The leader of the Chao, desperate, cried out for her- yep, the leader was a female Chao- clan's guardian to help. And help he did, by consuming the Chaos Emeralds himself, and erasing the Echidna Clan from existence for the most part, as well as destroying most of the world. Realizing her mistake, the Chao leader tried to stop the guardian, but couldn't on her own. The echidna girl, however, offered her assistance, considering that if it wasn't for her frequent visits to the Chao, her tribe wouldn't have caused this. They sealed the guardian inside the only thing that was strong enough to stop the Emeralds- the Master Emerald itself, at the cost of their lives._

_The world was reborn, and most of the Chao gained traits from the now extinct Mobian people. Now, while the Emeralds were at the main site of their ship, there was no way they could leave to further explore, since the lack of being near them would cause them to die quicker. However, since the Emeralds scattered save for the Master Emerald, they could travel as far as they needed to. So, as Chao searched the world and mankind started to truly emerge, it seemed peaceful… until after World War I, which was started over a green gem the size of a human hand that the Archduke Frances Ferdinand was found carrying on his person at the time of his death._

_The gem was really a Chaos Emerald, and was trusted into the hands of one Professor Gerald Robotnik of Berlin, Germany. Curious, Gerald Robotnik spent years searching about its origins while sons started finished their studies, and started of their own. Three members of these new families were his grandson Ivo, his other grandson Hanson, and finally his granddaughter Maria. Gerald soon became the head of a Soviet and US collaboration project of science to create a "neutral" science center in outer space- Space Colony ARK. While I don't truly know what exactly went down on the ARK, but they say a terrible accident occurred, leading to my aunt's untimely death, and Gerald's decent into madness, forever cursing the Robotnik name. To make it worse, I believe a Chaos Emerald was involved in that accident._

_I thought that couldn't get any worse, but it did. My uncle, after hearing and growing up on Gerald's stories went insane himself, started building robots, trying to take over the world like the tribe of echidnas. Except this time, there isn't a water monster to kill him. Instead, I've been doing some research of my own… and get this. According to some stone tablets I've read and translated, our world is in danger of something far worse than my uncle. Something big is coming. And our only hope is a boy born of Chaos… and a Chao controlled only by the Wind. They are to become one by the power of the Seven._

_Now, I don't know who these two are, or what exactly this all means… but I plan to look into this, and update again when I find out more. Oh, all of this information, and I forgot to introduce myself. Sorry about that. I am the great granddaughter of Prof. Gerald Robotnik. My father, Hanson, named me after his beloved little sister who died on the ARK. That being said, my name is Maria Robotnik the second, and I research about the Chaos Emeralds._

_**End Log of Maria Robotnik II**_

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Kingdom Rider92's Notes: I know, I know. There was never a second Maria in the series. The reason why _this_ Maria exists… well, her research helps move the story along. Not to mention the concept of so many fans of Shadow would often pair him with Maria, Rouge, Tikal, Amy, or (I don't know why) Sonic (personally, I'm not a fan of yaoi or yuri; if you are, sorry but no yaoi or yuri pairings will intentionally appear in the story). Speaking of Maria and Tikal, has anybody else noticed that they have nearly similar personalities? If so, then what I have planned for the duo isn't going to be surprising to you at all- just don't spoil it for everyone else.

Trust me; Maria II will be a key player in some parts later on, but for now, her journal entries will have to suffice in moving the plot along. She'll only write an entry every once in a while, so be calm, and try to give this character a chance. Until then, Kingdom Rider92, out!


	2. Episode 1, Part 1

A/N: Hey, it's me again. Alright, then, now that I finished the prologue, I can _really_ start the series. And what better way to start this than by introducing some key players? Oh, and before I forget… for some odd reason, I don't think this series would work very well without music for introduction and conclusion. If you have any suggestions for songs, then by all means, tell me. Okay, here we go!

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**Outskirts of Station Square- 02:24**

A large, sparkling city was the first sight anybody who was coming from out of town would see, even at this time of night. A grand casino, a colossal five star hotel, excellent museum, one of the world's greatest amusement parks, a giant beach, romantic seaside, express train service to just about anywhere in America, a vast collection of Chao Gardens, and an excellent school district… Station Square, the "Capital of the Western United States" had it all. One look from the beautiful cliff that was part of the hiking trail, and one could see the entire city.

Speaking of that cliff, there were two small beings standing on top of it. The beings were- despite their alterations- obviously Chao. The first of these two Chao was a small, yellow-orange being with a white muzzle, ocean blue eyes, white fur all over his small stomach, a pair of groomed fox ears, and- odd enough, even for one of his species- two small but long fox tails. On his chest was an ancient looking, violet colored badge, a tool belt was around his tiny waist, and over his small, nearly nonexistent eyebrows were a pair of brown goggles. There was a dark green dot floating above his head. In his tiny hands were a screwdriver in the left, and an odd, blue, human sized watch in the right. "Are you sure that this is the place?" the small, fox-like Chao asked his friend, adjusting a screw on the watch. "This is where that man who has your Emerald took it?"

The fox Chao was looking at an all dark ocean blue hedgehog Chao with long, spiky, hair like quills slicked back, pointed ears with tan insides, a light green dot over his head, and a tanned stomach. Around the Chao's left wrist was a teal ring that had a faint glow to it, and covering his closed eyes was a pair of sea green sunglasses. The hedgehog Chao's arms were crossed, as if he was focusing on something. The Chao stayed silent for a minute before relaxing his arms, perching the sunglasses so they were on his forehead, and opening his emerald green eyes, which seemed to sparkle as he grinned. "Oh, yeah," the hedgehog Chao smirked in a confident tone. "My senses haven't let me down in the past. I have a good whiff of the Emerald… and that whiff's coming from in that town." The fox Chao looked up from his work on the watch to look at Station Square. The vast size of it… as a Chao, this was rather intimidating. A large swirl of confusion and fear appeared over the tiny dot floating over his head- Chao had the ability to project their emotions from the dot- a large heart indicated that they were happy or in love, an exclamation point meant that they were excited or surprised by something, a question mark meant that they were confused, wanted something, or didn't know what was going on, and the swirl meant that they were scared, hurt, annoyed, or angry.

"It's a pretty big place," the fox Chao nervously pointed out. "It'll take us _days-_ no, probably all _week_ to search that town top to bottom! Too many people will figure out what we're looking for in no time!"

"Don't worry, buddy," the hedgehog Chao retorted. "Let's not forget about my sense for the Emeralds and my super speed… as well as your ability to fly and your brains. We'll have that Emerald by this time tomorrow."

"You always seem really confident about these things," the fox Chao stated, calming down. He sighed, "It's really amazes me that some organization like GUN hasn't caught on to our freelancing."

"That's because we don't have a cool name for it, yet," the hedgehog Chao shrugged. "You know that the world's current media only pays attention to celebrities, deaths, music, terrorists, economics, and small groups with really cool names." He then looked at the watch, and asked, "So, how long until this thing-a-ma-jig is done? You've been at it for a couple weeks." The fox Chao's ear twitched slightly, making him look at the watch with a swirl back over his head. He placed both the watch and the screwdriver away.

"First of all," the fox Chao slightly scowled at the fact that his partner forgot the name of the device for the twentieth time this week, "I called it the 'Chaos Energy powered Human-Chao Spiritual Unity Morpher', or, to put it simply, a 'Chaos Morpher'. And second, it would have been done much _sooner_ had we had a human to try it out with and we hadn't lost the Emerald we would've used for the test."

"Well, we found the Emerald's location for the most part," the hedgehog Chao smiled, calming the fox Chao down. "And this _is_ a city. There are more humans to test it out on than we found exploring the ruins that we set up a base nearby."

"A problem, though," the yellow-orange Chao announced, making his blue friend's smile fade. "Not too many humans can exactly take the levels of radiation that are emitted by Chaos Energy. Not to mention that the Chao is also a key factor, itself. Should the Chao have way too much Chaos Energy in its body for the human partner to partake of, then there's no way a successful fusion will take place. And you have plenty of it, considering you were born by that Emerald."

"Yeah," the blue Chao acknowledged, looking into the city. As he flipped down his sunglasses, he could sense it- the gem he grew up with was in that city. He didn't know exactly how he could tell, but he could. There it was- in the city. The blue Chao only grinned, "It's time I got my birthright back." He then disappeared into a light blue streak dashing down the hiking trail straight into the city. The two tailed fox dashed to the edge of the cliff, kicked off of it, and fell. Instead of falling straight into the cold, hard, ground that was waiting for him, though, the fox Chao's two tails started to perform multiple three hundred sixty degree helicopter spins around each other, allowing him to hover in the air. He then flew straight after the light blue streak heading straight for the city, turning into a yellowish streak himself. The darkness of the night sky engulfed this pair of high speed streaks as they entered Station Square… where their real adventures will begin.

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**Episode 1: Start-Up! The Thorndyke Boy and the Hedgehog Chao!**

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**Thorndyke Manor- 06:27**

A large, white, luxurious mansion just on the outskirts of town would normally seem to be full of life at any time of the day. However, to one of the home's residents- a teenaged human boy with messy cherry oak brown hair, slightly tanned skin, and sky blue eyes wearing a coal black long-sleeved shirt under a red and yellow t-shirt with white sleeves, a pair of dark blue jeans with two yellow streaks going up the sides of the pants legs- to him, had it not been for his grandfather who had just moved next door in the "shack" next door and the butler and maid of the house, the place may as well have been abandoned. The last time the boy saw his busy parents was about last week at the New Year's Eve party his father threw at the house. With his father the CEO of the technology corporation Meteor Tech that traveled around the world to help promote his company and his mother a world famous actress that kept getting, the boy's parents hardly ever stayed at the house, anymore.

He was half-used to this, though. The longest his parents have ever stayed home in the past three years was the two weeks during the winter break. Still, it was pretty sad that now that he was in his second semester of his freshman year in high school that his parents wouldn't rather be spending their time with their only son while they still had him. He never really asked for much, else.

The boy walked down stairs to a vast living room. The room had just about everything you could expect from a luxurious mansion's living room: large, flat screen television placed oh so carefully in between two grand sized speakers, a freshly made light tan sofa, a huge, red armchair, a mahogany coffee table, several golden trophies (his mother's collection from the films she's made), and some pictures of the boy when he was younger. This room was hardly ever used whenever his parents weren't home- in fact, the only thing that kept this room from collecting dust from lack of use was the maid who was currently cleaning it. The mansion's maid was a rather plump woman with curly brown hair, dark tanned skin, chocolate brown eyes, and a round face wearing a sky blue uniform, and she was currently finishing vacuuming the floor when the boy walked in. The maid looked up as she switched off the vacuum, and smiled.

"Good morning, Master Chris!" the maid greeted the boy. "I trust you slept well last night and breakfast was excellent?"

Christopher James Thorndyke- or as the maid and everybody else called him "Chris"- had to chuckle a bit. The maid was most likely referring to the "feast" that was once in the dining room on his plate. "Ella," Chris smiled, "breakfast was nice, as usual. But seriously, for the thousandth time, you do not have to call me, 'Master'."

"But Chris," Ella smiled back, "while your parents are gone, you _are_ the Master of this home." At the mention of his parents being gone, Chris frowned a bit. Ella caught notice of this, and sighed. "I know, Chris," the maid noted, making the boy look up. "Your parents do love you, but they're always gone, these days."

"They seem too busy for their family lives, anymore," Chris pointed out. It was a rather depressing thought, but even Ella knew this was the case- Nelson Thorndyke had just made a deal with a computer company in China, and was working day and night on solidifying the deal while Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke was the leading actress in the upcoming movie _Ruin Raider 3: Guardian of the Abyss,_ and the final shootings were taking place in the Amazon Jungle, and she usually did her own stunts. (A/N: Imaginary Cookie to the first reviewer to guess the reference in the title of the movie). There would be no way they could come back anytime soon.

Still, Ella had responsibility for Chris. "Don't worry about them," she smiled. "I'm sure that once they've taken care of their current business, then they'll come home and you'll all have a good laugh." For some reason, the boy had to return the smile. Ella and the butler, Mr. Tanaka always could cheer him up.

"Thanks, Ella," Chris said, feeling a little better. He looked at the clock above the large, flat screen television- 6:38. "Uh-oh," Chris blinked. "I'm going to be late for the bus!" He then ran out of the room, heading out to the door, putting on his dark blue backpack.

Ella reminded him, "Your lunch is in the fridge."

"Thanks, Ella!" Chris called to her, grabbing the bag lunch from the fridge, and turning to leave. As he opened the door, Chris turned to the living room, and said, "Tell Mr. Tanaka I said goodbye!"

"I will," Ella laughed. "Have a great day, Master Chris!"

"You too, Ella!" the boy replied, heading out the door and closing it. Ella turned back to her cleaning for just a second before the door opened, and Chris told her, "And for the one thousand _first_ time, just call me 'Chris,' Ella!" He then closed the door again. Ella sighed.

"Aye, aye, aye," she announced. "It seems like just yesterday, his parents brought him home for the first time. Now, they're rarely here, and he has some interesting friends in high school." It almost brought a tear to her face- the little Chris she knew was growing up. She just prayed that Nelson and Lindsey saw this, and could try to put their busy work aside to spend what could be the little time they had left with their boy. It was only a matter of years before he went to college, and more likely a few years after college that before he had found an excellent girl to be his wife and had kids of his own, and really wouldn't need them anymore. Ella knew that they wanted to be with them, but too much fell onto their plates over the years.

All Ella wanted from Chris' parents (besides her usual paycheck) was for them to somehow lighten their heavy loads before it was too late for both them and Chris himself.

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**Station Square High- 07:22**

Chris barely made the bus earlier that morning, but that was better than not making it and having Mr. Tanaka drive him. As much as he thought of the butler as a godfather, the fact that Tanaka was so stern and almost never seemed to smile around anybody besides Chris was what made it awkward with Chris' friends. Not to mention that Tanaka was Chris' bodyguard- there was an ongoing rumor that when Chris was a baby, a rival company to Meteor Tech had a group of mercenaries attack the hospital Chris was born in to kidnap him, and Tanaka _killed_ the entire group with nothing more than a scalpel and a couple medical syringes before they could even reach the nursery. To this day, nobody tried anything to Chris in broad daylight, lest they wish to wake up staring into the eyes of an angry Japanese butler who knows how to use every bladed weapon known to man.

Anyways, Chris was walking throughout the crowded halls of kids talking. The young boy turned around the corner to see three of his classmates- a boy and two girls. "Morning, guys!" Chris greeted them, making the three look up.

The only other boy of the group of four was an African American boy with curly brown hair, caramel-chocolate colored eyes, and a smirk on his face while he waved at Chris. His jade green jacket complemented the black t-shirt he was wearing rather well, and to finish his outfit was a pair of jeans. "Hey, Chris!" the boy replied. "I see you're doing well, today."

"Yeah, Danny," Chris answered. "I suppose I am. By the way, is the new prototype almost ready?"

Daniel "Danny" Prower knew that the prototype Chris was talking about was a homemade biplane that the two and Chris' grandfather had been working on. Danny's family was well known to be expert mechanical engineers throughout generations. "All that's left is the actual flight test," Danny announced. "If it works, then we can actually do the real plane." At this point, the two heard a pair of giggles coming from the girl.

"Flight tests again, you two?" the first girl, who was a short haired redhead with semi-pale skin, quite a few freckles on her cheeks, and jade green eyes wearing a light blue shirt under a pair of magenta overalls. "Considering what happened with the twelfth crash, I thought you guys would've learned your lesson."

However, the boys had yet to actually have a successful flight test, due to something going awry in the air. Number twelve was arguably the most successful attempt. However, Danny had accidentally flown the plane close to a Guardian Units of Nations- or, as they are more formally known, GUN- military air base. Being an unidentified aircraft, the boys and Chris' grandfather Charles Thorndyke were shot down. Had it not been for the quick thinking of Charles- or "Chuck," as he's often called- as well as a quick production of a pilot's license from Danny, the three would have been arrested. To this day, though, none of them have gone back to the state of Arizona, lest they wish to be reminded of the incident.

"I'm pretty sure that we're going to _avoid_ the military, this time, Frances!" Danny scowled. "And besides, all that's taught me was where and when _not_ to fly an unmarked plane. As for the others, those are seventeen ways not to make a plane. Number twelve almost worked, had we had more time to get her home!"

Frances Burns only shook her head. "God, you're stubborn, Danny. It's the reason why Helen and I don't ever go with you guys when you do these. But it's really a _miracle_ how you guys have survived each crash with but a few scratches and some bruises."

"Well," the last girl stated, "I don't really think I _could_ go on those tests even if I wanted to, Frances." With a smile, though, she told Chris and Danny, "But good luck, anyways, boys!" The girl was a natural blond with shoulder length and slightly curly hair, rather pale skin, and (in plenty of people's opinion) the prettiest pair of sky blue eyes you could have ever seen wearing a light pink dress with white sleeves with a green bow tied around her dress' collar, and she was in a power wheelchair. For as long as she could remember, Helen Rose had been diagnosed with polio, making her unable to walk. While this made her parents worry, Helen insisted that she was totally fine with this.

Her smile gave Chris a slight blush on his face. He had known Helen perhaps the longest between Danny, Frances, and himself. They first met in daycare when Helen was being teased by some of the other kids for not being able to walk. Mr. Tanaka had been teaching him self-defense martial arts for a bit beforehand, so, being the young gentleman, he told them to leave her alone. When they refused, a quick fight broke out. While Chris did get grounded for the whole incident, he had earned a life long friend that day. Not to mention that it confounded the entire staff as to how a three-year old boy knew how to properly operate a washing machine and stuff another boy into it during the rinse cycle. Now, as young teenagers, Chris had a crush on the blond girl, but he didn't quite know if she thought the same. Little did he actually know, though, that Helen also had a crush on Chris, as well.

"Um, thanks," Chris awkwardly smiled back. He heard quite a few footsteps heading their way, so he casually turned to see a man in his mid-thirties with tanned skin, dirty blond hair that went to his shoulders, dark blue eyes that seemed to sparkle behind a pair of glasses, and a happy look on his face approaching them. He was wearing a sapphire blue jacket over a black shirt with a white tie, and coal black pants. Chris' blush from Helen's compliment quickly faded as he greeted, "Good morning, Mr. Stewart!"

"Morning, kids," Stewart replied. Looking at his new watch, he asked, "You four do realize you have just about five minutes until first bell starts, right?"

Chris blinked, taking a peak at the watch. Mr. Stewart was right- they only had about five minutes. "Uh-oh!" the boy gasped. "I've gotta go get my stuff! See you guys later!"

"Right!" Danny, Frances, and Helen all nodded. The four then went their separate ways, saying their goodbyes to Mr. Stewart as they went. Stewart could only shake his head at the four- they were quite an interesting group of friends. While it made him proud as a teacher that they were so close that they seemed inseparable… his _real_ job made him rather curious as to how far the four of them would be willing to go for each other, even if it meant going to the gates of hell itself. Because with the current events unknown to the mass public, the world would _need_ good people like those kids soon enough.

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**Chuck Thorndyke's Garage- 14:48**

Chris and Danny casually walked towards Chris' grandfather's home. School had seemed to pass by rather quickly, that day. Perhaps it was because of the boys' excitement to be testing out their plane. Perhaps it was the fact that winter months seem to pass by faster than the other seasons (despite them being in California and it hadn't snowed for a couple years). Either way, Chris and Danny were glad that they could be testing the plane out today, but kind of disappointed that their two friends Frances and Helen had chosen to go shopping with Helen's pet hedgehog Chao, Amy. "It's a shame that Helen and Frances didn't want to see test number nineteen," Danny pointed out. "Why did they decide to go shopping, anyways?"

"I usually don't ask," Chris announced as they arrived on the doorstep. While it was by no means as big as his parents' mansion, there was a grand feel about Chris' grandfather's home. While it was just plain white on the outside of the house, the interior had several knick-knacks from around the entire world. Charles "Chuck" Thorndyke, although a scientist and inventor in his own right, was an archeologist that traveled the world, searching the globe for some of the world's greatest treasures. And in his garage were some of his greatest inventions, including the prototype for the biplane that they were going to test out, today. Those that he was still working on were in the basement, where his real lab was.

Chris was about to ring the doorbell, when a voice called, "I'm already in the garage, boys!" The two boys turned to see the large, metal door that held Chuck's completed inventions inside of it. There were plenty of things just lying around, but what drew their attention was the large, silver biplane with four seats in the center of the garage, as well as the two men standing next to it. The older of the two men had shrunk in his age to the point that Chris was almost as tall as him (but the man was slightly taller), had a deep tan his skin, his wild brown hair had faded to solid white, his face had quite a few wrinkles, and his dark brown eyes still had that odd shimmer. He was wearing a light green shirt under his white lab coat, and a pair of dirty tan jeans. "How was school, Chris."

"It was okay, grandpa," Chris smirked. Turning to the other man, he asked, "How are you doing, Mr. Tanaka?"

Mr. Edward Tanaka was quite an imposing figure at five feet and nine inches. A somewhat muscular man under his black butler uniform, a seemingly stern look on his face, perfectly straight black hair, black, beady eyes, perfectly tanned skin, and a pair of thin glasses on his small nose, not too many people wanted to mess with Tanaka. "I am fine, Master Chris," he politely greeted.

Danny whispered to Chris, "Why exactly is your butler here?"

"Probably because of what happened with test eighteen," Chris whispered back. They all knew that eighteen was their worst test so far. One of the wings suddenly tore off in the middle of the air, and they had to crash into the parking lot of a mall in northern California. Unfortunately, they had chosen to use the car of the leader of a northern California mafia, Li Yan, as a pillow to their bumpy landing. Chris, Danny, and Chuck had each been held at gunpoint by his men until Tanaka showed up and cleared the lot himself.

"And I do not wish to travel fifty miles to have to save you three again," Tanaka calmly reminded them. "That is why I insisted to Master Charles that you all build an extra seat for me, just in case."

"Well," Chuck sighed, "I'd normally disagree if not for what happened last time. And since we almost actually were gunned down, I'd feel safer with Tanaka."

"How was I supposed to know that the right wing wasn't properly fastened and we'd end up facing the barrels of loaded guns?" Danny protested. "Don't worry, Mr. Tanaka, we'll stay in the area of Station Square's airspace, this time."

"As much as I wish to believe that," Tanaka scowled, "I insist that you at least let me come on this flight. Otherwise, I may have to report to your parents about what _truly_ happened the last flight, Mr. Prower." Danny's eyes went wide at that threat. While his parents did know about his flight tests- hence, how he actually _got_ his flying license- they didn't want him actually leaving the city by plane without their permission. That being said, Danny had told them that they had been flying too long, and the plane ran out of gas instead of the whole gangster story.

"…Fine," Danny sighed in defeat. "You can come, Mr. Tanaka, just no backseat flying." At this, Tanaka smiled- a rare, almost shocking sight to anybody but the Thorndyke family.

"Thank you, Mr. Prower," Tanaka politely bowed. "If there are no objections, shall we proceed with the test?"

"Actually," Danny stated, "we need to go over some things before we actually start. Then after an engines test, we'll take off. For now, let's just get started." And so, the four proceeded to work on the plane, making sure everything was in order.

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**Downtown Station Square- 15:09**

The yellow-orange fox Chao stood on top of the five-star hotel, working on the watch he was beforehand. He was clearly focused on the watch. That's why he didn't seem to notice the obvious confusion on the people below in the busy streets that a cyan blur was dashing past them and up the wall of the hotel at around two hundred miles an hour. Once the blur reached the top, it slowed down to reveal the dark blue hedgehog Chao. "Hey, buddy," the blue Chao greeted, making the fox Chao jump with an exclamation point appearing over the green dot on his head and drop his screwdriver to the floor of the roof, letting it roll.

"Must you always do that?" the fox Chao questioned while a swirl appeared over his head, grabbing the screwdriver before it rolled off the side of the building. He turned to see that his hedgehog Chao friend was lying on the ground, a relaxed look on his face. Calming down and placing the screwdriver away, he asked, "So, how did the search go?"

"So far, nothing on foot," the hedgehog Chao answered, closing his eyes behind his sunglasses. "I sensed it on the outer parts of town, probably in one of the homes. Call me crazy, but I think that man who took the Emerald _still_ has it." The fox Chao blinked at this statement, a question mark popping over his head.

"What makes you think that he kept the Emerald in the first place rather than a jewelry store or a museum?" the twin tailed fox Chao asked. At this, the hedgehog Chao smirked.

"Well, let's see: the Emerald is- to most humans- a rare, one of a kind gem that is worth millions in US currency, let alone the rest of the world. That's not money you'd just donate to a museum for just any price, and way too expensive for even sell to a jeweler. However, there's also the slight chance that the guy discovered the _true_ power that the Emerald possesses, and can't just afford to give it up easily. Give me about five minutes, and I'll find out where it is, and I'll get it out of his hands before he knows it's gone."

"If the gem is in the man's home," the fox Chao announced, "then we can't just go in and get it back without a big sacrifice on our part- like probably your super speed and my ability to fly." The blue Chao sat back up, an exclamation point over his head. He had seemed to forgotten a key factor of Chao Code.

There was a key difference between Wild Chao and Homegrown Chao. Homegrown Chao who were either raised from a Chao Garden (a safe haven for Chao to be played with and raised by countless humans) or adopted in human dwellings to be raised by that family could come and go into homes as long as they were with their owners who they had made pacts with. Wild Chao, such as this duo, had long ago made an agreement to never enter a dominant species' home (in this case, the dominant species on Earth are humans) without an open invitation, or they'll permanently lose their key abilities. For a Speed Chao like the blue one, he would no longer be able to run at high speeds. For a Flight Chao like the yellow-orange Chao, his power to soar through the air would be gone and similar things would occur to the Power and Swimming Chao who broke the code. It was a rather cruel punishment for Wild Chao to have to endure, but it made them remember that they were to be guests only on this planet- their being here is intrusion enough.

"…Then, I'll peak the guy's interest and get him to let me in," the blue Chao suggested while standing up, and walking towards the edge of the hotel's roof. "From there, I'll convince him to hand the Emerald back over without a fight, and then we'll be on our way for your Chaos Morpher tests." He then grinned, "Come on, buddy… I'll race ya to the outer parts of town to find the guy!" The fox Chao only sighed. The blue Chao always had to make the simplest jogs a race. Though when this challenge happened, it _did_ make for quite a bit of entertainment, and spice up life.

"You're on," the fox Chao grinned, walking over to the edge, himself. The two knelt down, ready to take off. "On your marks… get set-"

That's as far as he got when a large shadow was cast over the building. The two Chao, confused, had question marks as they looked up to see a large battleship just floating in the sky. It was a large, ugly green ship, cannons protruding from each and every side of the ship- the top, the bow, the stern, port, starboard, and there were even cannons on the bottom of the ship. There was a large symbol on the side of the ship that- despite the large shadow that the ship was casting- looked like the shadow of a round, human face with an insane grin and the largest mustache that the two Chao had ever seen. Despite this seeming just disgusting to the two Chao, all of the humans below felt intimidated.

The blue Chao only asked, "What in Lord Chaos' name is _that_ hunk of junk?"

Just then, a trapdoor underneath the large airship opened, and out of it fell several red, round, metallic men about the size of the average human man with small, thin arms and legs, glowing blue eyes, carefully painted grins and noses, and fully armed with either long, white lances, oddly shaped laser blasters, or large, red bazookas. Among them, though, was a golden variation of these robots, armed with a probably heavier lance and a huge, spiked, crimson metal shield.

Wherever there was a surface- whether it was solid ground, the large fountain in town square, on top of the cars that happened to be in the streets, or even on the rooftops of several buildings- the robots landed straight onto them, cracking the ground that they placed their heavy armored feet on, crushing the hoods of cars, shattering glass. The humans below the two panicked.

The golden robot, taking charge of the sudden chaos, ordered, _"ATTACK AND CAPTURE THE HUMANS! BURN THIS CITY TO THE GROUND!"_ The robots didn't need to be told twice. Those who had blasters fired away at the humans, making them scatter in every direction possible. The lance-wielding robots hacked and slashed up the signs. Anybody that got too close to them was slashed, too spraying blood on the walls. The robots holding bazookas opened fire themselves, blowing away the doors and windows to stores and setting fire to some of the buildings. Station Square, the once beautiful city, just now became Hell on Earth. People were dying on the streets… children were crying for their parents… parents were frantically searching for their kids… ambulances were trying to save whoever they could, while police officers tried to stop the robots on their own, but to no avail… firefighters were struggling to put out the burning buildings, but were having trouble with the robots trying to shoot or gut them.

The duo of Chao looked at the destruction raining down on Station Square. They looked rather angered watching all of the madness that took place. "I don't know about you," the fox Chao stated, looking at his hedgehog Chao colleague, "but I'd rather not look for the Emerald when all hell's breaking loose in a town."

"Yeah," the blue Chao agreed. "It's been too long since we had plenty of cannon fodder for us to fight, anyways. Whadaya say to us kicking their ugly, robotic hides?" The two were interrupted by the sound of metallic feet crunching onto solid concrete.

The two Chao turned to see the robots landing on the roof of the hotel. The robots seemed to eye them in a menacing way. One of the red robots pointed his gun at the two, and ordered the duo as its comrades did the same, _"SURRENDER, FOOLISH CHAO, OR YOU TWO WILL BE TERMINATED. THOSE ARE THE ORDERS OF DOCTOR ROBOTNIK, HIMSELF!"_

Now, a normal Chao, when faced with over a hundred robots armed with extremely deadly weapons and about ten times their rather miniscule height (the average Chao being not even half of a foot tall), would panic as well, running for the hills. The blue hedgehog Chao _did_ have plans for running. Though, instead of running away like anybody with even a _forth_ of the common sense that you're not only outnumbered but outgunned, the hedgehog Chao had plans of running _towards_ the robots. He smirked while adjusting his sunglasses so that they were perched on his head, "Do you tin cans think that you can just scare me with your numbers?" The hedgehog Chao laughed, much to the confusion of all of those present- apart from his "foxy" friend. He then disappeared faster than anybody could blink, alerting the red robots. They looked in just about every way… until the robot holding the gun up noticed that his blaster was missing. It looked down at its feet, only to see a dark blue blur jumping up and ramming an red-orange gun into the robot's face at demonic speeds. The blue hedgehog tore through the durable metal, ripping the head right off the body with one incredibly swift pistol whip. Now without a head, the robot just fell over, oil spilling out all over the roof.

The other robots, had they had actual emotions, would have been shocked to see that their leader had been decapitated with only a blaster held by a Chao. The blue Chao, his visible green eyes burning with pure rage, had a dark look on his face as he leaned on the gun, a green swirl over his head. "What's the matter?" the hedgehog Chao angrily asked, stepping on the blaster's gun barrel, crushing it under his small foot. The swirl faded to normal as he announced, "About a minute ago, you guys were prepared to blast me and my cohort to bits. Now, you're practically oiling yourselves just because I went and blown one robot's head off. Look at you all; you're so damn nervous, now, you're all practically falling to pieces."

At this, the robots then noticed something. The small fox Chao was gone. They looked behind them to see the fox Chao holding his handy screwdriver, a smile on his face. He casually put away the tool… and watched as the robots' screws fell out of their sockets. The robots then, quite literally, fell apart, piece by piece. The fox Chao asked, "Perhaps we overdid it, there?"

"No," the blue Chao stated while looking at the events- the police were vastly being overpowered by the robots lack of fatigue, and the fact that everything around them was on fire was burning up didn't seem to help. There was no way that the regular authorities were going to be able to deal with these metallic menaces on their own. If anything, the hedgehog Chao would give them half an hour longer, and that was being nice. Placing the sunglasses back over his eyes, the blue hedgehog Chao suggested, "Let's split up- I'll cover the northern half of town on my own, and you deal with the robots here. Do whatever you have to, as long as we don't hurt the humans more so than they already have been. This is, after all, what we do."

"Have you thought of a name for your little hero organization?" the fox Chao asked, starting to spin his tails again and take off of the ground and placing the brown goggles over his eyes. The hedgehog Chao shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied, "but it'll come to me, soon enough." He then dashed off the side of the building, whooping as he ran vertically down it and heading for the northern part of town, running straight through several robots. The fox Chao lowered himself to ground level, and ran off towards the robots.

As the two proceeded to start aiding the humans, they were confused about one thing- Robotnik. Who was he, and why did he just order an attack on Station Square? They weren't sure- and neither exactly were any of the humans around. But they would soon find out- the war against the Robotnik Empire had just begun.

---

**Chao Card: **Blue Hedgehog Chao (Name Unknown)

**Type**: Normal, Hedgehog, Speed

**Known Powers:** Super speed, impressive strength, "Chaos" sense (can detect the odd energy waves produced by "Chaos Energy" without the use of a radar), wind energy

**Equipment:** Sunglasses, mysterious cobalt bracelet

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: And that's only part 1 of the first episode. I hope I didn't put too much action for a kickoff in that last part. Part two will be released soon enough.

Now, to thank some reviewers:

**White Hunter:** Sorry I took so long. I've been busy with the whole, "Back to school" thing, along with family matters. Still, I have updated. Hopefully, part 2 will be up soon enough.

**Zohaku:** First of all, nice pen name. Secondly, I hope this didn't disappoint.

Give me some time to get this all together. I'll get the next chapter up soon! Kingdom Rider92 out!


	3. Episode 1, Part 2

A/N: I'm back! And this time, I plan to finish up Episode 1. Oh, by the way, before anybody asks, the cards are to show some information about the characters or equipment used. They're split into either Chao Card, Human Card, Robot Card, or Gadget Card. Okay, wish me luck!

---

**Human Card: **Christopher Thorndyke

**Occupation:** High school student, inventor (in spare time)

**Known Family**: Lindsey (mother), Nelson (father), Samuel Speed (uncle), Charles (grandfather), Edward Tanaka (godfather)

**Hobbies:** Flying in planes, helping his grandfather with experiments, martial arts

---

**Chuck's Garage- 15:49**

Danny casually got into the pilot's seat, and turned on the plane's engine. Just as he thought, the plane's engine roared to life, and the propeller started to spin. "All systems green," he grinned at both Tanaka and Chuck, who simply clapped their hands.

"All right," Chuck nodded, "now, all that's left is the flight test." He then turned to the slightly ajar door that led from his gadget filled garage to his home collection of objects from around the globe. He opened it further, and peaked his head inside the house to see Chris in his Latin American decorated living room where, after he was done with the adjustments on the wings, was watching the news.

Now, Chuck had quite a lot to be proud of in his humble abode, I'm not going to lie to you. There was the amazing Egyptian guest room upstairs and the all seeing eye that was to be on top of the Giza Pyramid was on the curtains; there was the ancient Greek study, where you felt like that you were in the ages of Gods and monsters while you worked; there was even the European renaissance in his grand kitchen, which instantly made people visiting feel enlightened. But his greatest room was the Latin American living room, which was decorated top to bottom with his findings from various adventures from Mexico all the way to the bottom tip of Argentina. His latest discovery from that region was back about a week ago when he was part of an excavation in the former Mayan Empire where the Chao had originally been discovered. He had found an odd, dark blue gem in an old building that was still standing. The size of a human palm and the shape of a diamond on a ring, it seemed out of place in the Mayan Empire. So, he took it for further research. So far, there was nothing he could find out about it.

Chuck went over to Chris, and said, "We're ready for the flight test." Chris looked up at his grandfather.

"Alright, then," Chris stated while getting up. Just then, the television flashed with the words, _"SPECIAL BULLETIN,"_ making the two look at it.

"_This just in,"_ the reporter announced. What the two saw next was rather shocking. Station Square was in flames, and robots were storming the city. _"Downtown Station Square is under siege by rampaging robots. About twelve citizens are dead, and several more are in critical conditions. According to word on the street, some robots are actually taking hostages in a local store."_ Chris gasped when he saw his friends Helen and Frances, along with other people, being held at gunpoint by the robots at the local grocery store. Helen was holding a small, light pink hedgehog Chao with grass green eyes, her quills going straight down her head like actual hair to her small shoulders, a crimson feather sticking out of the side of her quills, a magenta spot on her stomach, and a scarlet dot above her head. _"These robots were likely to have been created by the infamous Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Citizens are advised to stay indoors."_

Chris turned off the television, and looked at his grandfather with a serious look on his face. "We're going downtown to get them out of this mess."

"Really?" Chuck asked, looking at the situation. "…Well, they _are_ your friends." Chuck and Chris headed back out to the garage, where Tanaka was getting into the back seat, and the engine was still running. Chuck yelled over the roar of the machine, "We have to head downtown! There are lives at stake!"

Danny and Tanaka both blinked as Danny turned off the engine. "What?" Danny asked. Chris and Chuck both jumped into the plane, themselves. Chris leaned in, and told the situation. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE IN TROUBLE!?"

"Exactly," Chris replied. "They're downtown. Take off!" Danny only nodded, and restarted the engine of the plane. This time, though, he actually moved the plane down the driveway past Chuck's old, brown sedan at a rather steady speed. Danny, near the end of the long driveway, finally pulled on the lever, and the plane went airborne, taking the four into the skies.

---

**Downtown Station Square- 16:02**

When going shopping for groceries this afternoon, Helen Rose expected a nice, quiet trip to the store, pick up a few things for her parents with her friend Frances and Chao Amy by her side, and be back before dinner. What she didn't expect, though, was to be starring down the barrel of a large bazooka held by a menacing red robot when she turned the corner of the next aisle. Now, here Helen was, among several other people, the back of her wheelchair pressed against the shivering cold of the dairy section, holding her pink Chao Amy as tightly as she could, looking at several robots, who pointed their guns at them and seemed to be arguing over what to do with their new hostages.

"_WHAT DO YOU THINK THE DOCTOR WOULD WANT WITH THEM?"_ one of the robots questioned.

"_PERHAPS AS TEST SUBJECTS FOR ONE OF HIS INVENTIONS,"_ another suggested.

"_NEGATIVE,"_ a third argued. _"HE WOULD MOST LIKELY USE THEM AS MANUFACTURING LABOR FOR MORE OF US."_

"_IF ANY HUMANS ARE TO DO LABOR,"_ a forth disagreed,_ "THEN THEY WOULD BE FINDING THE MATERIALS NEEDED TO MAKE US, NOT MAKE US THEMSELVES."_

Frances Burns was also being held at gunpoint. Looking at the robots arguing, she probably would have found it amusing if she wasn't afraid that one small chuckle could result in a bullet being placed in an inconvenient location between either her ribcage or eyes. However, inside her head, she was mad at herself. _Damn it,_ Frances thought while looking at the amount of robots- there were about six in the store. As for the number of hostages, if she had to take a guess, Frances would say that including herself, Helen, and Amy, there were about twenty of them. _I could probably_ _take these tin cans, myself if there wasn't so much risk involved._

This thought, although it seemed to be exaggerated, was actually true- Frances had been taking as many lessons in martial arts as Chris was, though it was agreed that between the two, Frances was stronger. If anybody wanted to mess with Helen, they'd have to get past Chris and Frances first, and then Tanaka, should he be in the vicinity (because of the whole bodyguard to Chris thing). However, Frances knew that, even though it would give her absolute _pleasure_ to crush these robots into the ground, the robots would start killing hostages. Not wanting a death or two on her hands, Frances had to surrender without a fight.

The robots turned back to their captives, and the leader, the one with the bazooka, announced, _"WE HAVE DECIDED. ALMOST ALL OF YOU ARE TO COME WITH US BACK TO THE CRUISER FOR WHATEVER THE DOCTOR HAS PLANNED."_

At this, the hostages were all confused- the sole Chao of the group had a question mark over her head. Out of curiosity, the Chao Amy asked, "Wait, what exactly do you mean by 'almost all of us?'" The leader of the robots pointed its bazooka at Helen, making them all gasp, and the pink Chao had an exclamation point over her head.

"_THOSE WHO CANNOT POSSIBLY HELP US IN OUR CAUSE,"_ the robot declared. _"THEY WILL BE THE FIRST TO BE TERMINATED."_ Helen's eyes boggled at the sight of the large bazooka being pointed at her. There was no way that she would be able to move out of the way before the robot fired and blasted her to bits. The robot started to pull down on the trigger-

Just as out of nowhere, a light blue blur passed by the machine, slicing its right am off, spraying oil all over the ground, and dropping the bazooka as well. The blur slowed down to reveal the dark blue hedgehog Chao, arms crossed, and a semi-serious look on his face. "Don't you metal heads _know_ that's no way to treat a lady?" he began, raising his sunglasses with one tiny hand.

"_AND WHO ARE YOU TO INTRUDE ON OUR MISSION?"_ the leader robot asked, completely ignoring the fact that oil was still leaking out of the area where it's arm once was. At this, the blue Chao actually smirked. His cobalt bracelet seemed to glow for a minute before he disappeared in the blink of an eye. When everyone looked to see where he was, they were shocked to find that the hedgehog Chao was standing on top of a robot's head, placing the sunglasses back over his eyes.

"Just some meddling, heroic Chao," he simply answered. One of the robots decided not to take any chances, and opened fire. The hedgehog Chao jumped off before the bullets slammed into the head of the robot he was standing on, creating a fountain of oil before it fell over, destroyed. The hedgehog Chao then curled into a ball, and started to spin in midair, surrounded by a sudden gust of wind. Before anybody else could guess what was going to happen next, he let gravity start bringing him back to the ground, and rammed through the one robot that just tried to shoot him like a comet would pierce the atmosphere, going in on one side, and coming out the other, leaving a huge, gaping hole in the robot, casually shaking off the motor oil that was dripping off of his quills as it fell over.

Acknowledging that two of their buddies were just destroyed by one Chao's tricks, the robots decided not to take this small creature lightly, anymore. Two robots with lances decided to try to stab him, but to no avail. He dodged out of the way with perfect grace. He however didn't seem to notice the third lance wielding robot behind him. The robot swiped his sword, hitting him with the power of a baseball bat swing. The Chao, with a green swirl over his head, crashed into the egg cartons, getting bits of yolk and shell all over him. Combined with the oil he was already covered head to toe with, the hedgehog Chao looked a complete pigsty.

"As much as I hate water," the blue Chao muttered to himself while rubbing his head, wiping and shaking the gunk he was covered with off as much as possible, and actually standing up, "I'm going to need a shower after all of this." The lance robot that was responsible for knocking him into the eggs walked over, lance raised to cut the annoying Chao in half. The Chao moved to run, but the robot moved faster, kicking the Chao in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and cracking a couple fragile ribs. Before the Chao could move, the robot placed its foot on top of the Chao, so he wouldn't be able to run away.

"_BEGINNING TO EXECUTE MEDDLING CHAO,"_ the robot said while started to bring the sharp weapon down. Now, despite all of his strength and speed, there was no way that the hedgehog Chao could dodge or counter this attack. In a few seconds, he would be skewered Chao.

That's when Frances made her move. She hurdled over the destroyed robots, grabbing a blaster as she did so, and kicked the robot in the side, knocking it away from the hedgehog Chao, allowing him to breathe. The robot started to get up, only to find a few bullets blasted straight into its metal frame. After Frances was sure it wasn't moving, she sighed and lowered the blaster. Turning to the Chao, Frances asked, "Are you okay, little guy?"

"Yeah," the hedgehog Chao replied with a grin. "We hedgehog Chao heal ridiculously quickly than most Chao, so my ribs should reset themselves in a few minutes. Nice move, by the way."

"Thanks," Frances stated while aiming the blaster at the other three robots, who were rather mad that one of their hostages had just went and played "heroine" by destroying their other buddy. The two remaining lance wielders rushed straight at them in an attempt to skewer the two.

Rather than become a pair of shish kebabs, though, the two acted fast. The hedgehog Chao rushed straight at the first one, and, at the last second, sprung off of the ground, and let the robot swing up, hitting nothing but air. The robot was at first confused by this, until the Chao landed on the top of the lance, a grin on his face as he slid down the lance at impressive speeds until he smashed the machine's head in with a super fast fist, making it fall over.

Frances also ran at her robot, but rolled to the side as it swiped. She then sweep kicked the robot, letting it fall on its back. Not missing a step, she then axe kicked its stomach, crunching in the heavy metal. It was quite an interesting sight seeing a fifteen-year old human girl being able to kick through steel, but Frances had done something similar to this several times before. So, it was natural to her. As she prepared to deliver another kick, she heard a clicking right behind her. The leader of the robots, with his remaining hand, was holding a once discarded blaster to her head.

"_I SUGGEST THAT YOU DO NOT FINISH YOUR NEXT MOVE,"_ it warned her. The hedgehog Chao turned to the robot, prepared to act. _"AND I SUGGEST THAT YOU DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ATTACK, CHAO. UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU WISH THIS GIRL'S DEATH ON YOUR CONSCIOUS."_ The Chao started to look around, until he caught sight of movement on top of the aisles. Flashing a brief grin, he got to work acting.

"Whoa, whoa," the hedgehog Chao stated, a question mark over his head. "Big words and death threats confuse me. Are you saying that if I try to do anything, you'll blast her skull to bits?"

"_AFFIRMATIVE,"_ the robot replied.

"Even move?"

"_AFFIRMATIVE, AGAIN."_

"So, if I even take _one_ teensy step, you'll kill her?" At this, Frances and the robot both got annoyed.

"_ARE YOU _TRYING_ TO BE A SMART ASS!?"_ both of them yelled at the mischievous blue Chao. The question mark faded, and the confused look turned into a sheepish grin.

"Sorry," he grinned, "I was seeing what you'd say. And besides, this threat doesn't apply to him." Before anyone could ask who "him" was, though, the robot found two small feet being rammed into its eyes. The two tailed fox Chao kicked the robot with surprising speed, knocking it over to the ground, and making it drop the gun. The fox Chao then started to spin his tails, performing his helicopter ability again. "Nice entrance, Miles."

The twin-tailed Chao, or Miles, as he was now known, simply landed on his feet, and bowed. Miles had quite a few bumps and bruises, but he was fine, otherwise. "Thanks," he grinned while removing his goggles. "Do you wanna take it from here?"

"With pleasure," the hedgehog Chao replied while jumping towards the aisle wall, kicking off of it, curling into a ball, and came crashing down quite literally on the final robot's parade. After crawling out of the oily wreckage, he smirked while taking off his sunglasses and started to clean them. "Thanks again for the help, back there," he honestly told the human that helped him while perching them back onto his head.

"No problem," Frances replied, still slightly annoyed by the delay tactic the two employed. "But next time, don't do something ridiculous like ask repetitive questions."

"Sorry about him," Miles stated, a swirl over his head. "My friend here likes to toy with people."

"Sorry, a force of habit," the hedgehog stated. Turning to Miles, he asked, "So, what made you come after me?"

"Well," the fox Chao answered, "I _was_ dealing with the robots in the southern part until GUN robots came here. Now, it's a war that I think the military can handle."

Truth be told, though, Miles was right. Outside, there were several of Robotnik's robots that were already destroyed being joined by others thanks to GUN's robotic foot soldiers. Even taller than most humans, had blasters mounted onto their arms, carried larger shields, and had lock-on sensor units, these robots were slightly more advanced than the current robots Robotnik had on the streets. Despite the advancements, though, Robotnik and GUN's drones were at a stalemate

The two Chao stood outside, watching the fireworks fly. The two sides were duking it out, and heavy casualties were occurring on both ends. Even with the Speed Team, Station Square's special SWAT unit dedicated to take things out quickly and armed with formula one high speed pursuit vehicles that had several gadgets to utilize, things wasn't looking good. Looking outside at the battle, the blue hedgehog Chao sighed, having fatigue kick in. "All of this firepower and it looks tied," he announced. "We need to take out the leader… what happened to Goldie?" He was referring to the golden robot that was leading the attack on the city. After giving orders, he had seemed to vanish.

"I think that robot went for city hall," Miles replied, also showing his tiredness. "But he was surrounded by twenty others, last time I checked. And considering how exhausted we're getting, I doubt we can take the whole bunch alone."

"We're going to have to," the blue Chao pointed out. "Damn it, though… if we had the Emerald, I would have had the lot scrapped by now." Turning to his friend, he asked, "Did you happen to make any more of those Power Rings?"

"Made them last night," the fox Chao replied. He then reached into his pouch, and pulled out two golden rings, similar to the cobalt bracelet around the hedgehog Chao's wrist, but bigger. Power Rings were a unique object Miles created while studying the Emerald. A golden circle laced with Chaos Energy, it allowed Chao (or other beings that had Chaos Energy running through their veins) a quick boost of energy. Now, the side effects left the user exhausted once the Power Rings healing and extra strength wore off to the point that if you were tired before the use, you'd probably pass out afterwards, and there are plenty of bad places to fall unconscious, such as in the middle of a war zone. It wasn't as reliable as an Emerald, but to finish this quickly before too much permanent damage was done… it was worth the risks of side effects.

"Remember," Miles warned the hedgehog as he handed one of the Power Rings over. "We have approximately three minutes after use. Let's find the gold robot and take him out fast." The hedgehog Chao noticed Frances, Helen, and Amy coming to see them.

"Hey," Amy told the blue hedgehog Chao. "Thanks again for saving Helen like that. You really were swift on your feet, back there."

"'Swift on my feet,' eh?" the hedgehog Chao asked. "Thanks, I'll remember that." He then pressed a button on the bottom of his cobalt bracelet, and the light faded away to a plain, white bracelet. From there, the hedgehog Chao slid his Power Ring over the bracelet, and pressed the button, again. Miles pressed his Power Ring to the badge on his chest. Both Rings started to glow, and two golden auras enveloped them. Instantly, their wounds vanished, and they felt relaxed to the point that hearts appeared over their heads for a few seconds before fading away to dots. The two placed their eye protection back over their eyes, and then nodded at each other. With only a wave to say goodbye, they then dashed towards city hall, leaving the three girls in the dust. Their countdown had begun

"…I wonder who those Chao actually were," Helen asked aloud.

"They were pretty cool," Amy smiled a heart above her head. "Especially that cute hedgehog Chao!"

Frances had to shake her head. "Well," she agreed, "I hope we see them, again. Wait until Chris and Danny hear about this!"

---

**Skies above Station Square- 16:14**

From what he could see, so far, Chris saw that the town was in flames. They had been doing several sweeps of the city with no signs of their friends. Earlier, like twelve minutes ago, he could have sworn he saw a small, two tailed fox Chao dismantling robots by either pounding on them with its tails or removing a few screws. Chris had also seen GUN robots as well, destroying any of Robotnik's droids coming towards them. He had seen a few formula-one cars down on the streets plowing through the robots as well- it was Samuel Speed's Speed Team, a special SWAT unit in Station Square. Whenever there was a problem that needed to be dealt with quickly, such as oh, this is just an example, but, an army of robots burning the city down, then they were the first ones on sight to handle it. And right now, handling it they were.

But so far, Chris hadn't seen Frances or Helen. "I sure hope they're alright," Chris muttered to himself. He was starting to get worried about them, but then again, who wouldn't be? I'm pretty sure that if large robots armed with guns and lances crashed landed into your town, started shooting up everything in sight, were killing people, and ransacking all that they could, you'd probably be worried about your friends and family first if you didn't know where they were. Especially now that GUN was here and there were chances that they could end up in the crossfire.

"They'll be fine," Danny assured them, staying completely focused on his flying. "Right now, let's focus on helping those we can." Chris nodded, and returned to looking for his friends and other people on the street. That's when he noticed the small platoon of robots being led to the entrance of city hall by the gold robot from before.

"Hey, guys!" Chris yelled. Tanaka and Chuck, who were also looking out for people, noticed the robots, themselves.

"Hello, there," Chuck stated while looking at the gold robot. "I think we've struck gold in this minefield." Turning to Danny, he asked, "Do you think you can take us, down?" Danny nodded, and prepared to dive down there when Tanaka's attention was drawn towards something else.

"Not to surprise anyone," Tanaka yelled, "but there are two objects approaching the robots, themselves!" The other three had to look. Two small blurs, one cyan blue and the other sun yellow, were dashing at high speeds towards the robots. Curious, Danny flew after them.

---

**City Hall- 16:16**

The golden robot stood at the steps of- in its creator's opinion- the second most important building in the entire world. The capture of this city meant the starting location of the Robotnik Empire. From there, they would travel across the states, conquering city after city, town after town, spreading their influence, until they reached Washington, where taking over by then would be a cakewalk. And all the gold robot had to do was walk in there, place a gun against the mayor's head, pull the trigger, burn those wretched American and Californian flags, and replace them with the flag of the Empire. Even with GUN, there was nothing that could stop the robot from doing just that.

Unless, of course, you take the two small blurs making their way towards the gold robot's small militia into account. So, when the golden robot heard an odd sound, it had to turn around just in time to see one of its men stumbling backwards, and another bending forwards. The one able to fall on its back fell apart, bisected with oil spilling everywhere. Standing behind it was a twin tailed fox Chao. The one that was heaving, however, had a blue hedgehog Chao, in a similar effect to one of the _Invader vs. Hunter_ movies burst out of its back, leaving one ugly hole through the body. (A/N: Guess the reference, again, and you get another imaginary cookie.)

"We have _got_ to find a cleaner way of doing this!" the blue Chao complained with a swirl over his head, shaking off even more oil. To the gold robot, he scowled behind his sunglasses, "Honestly, do you even _know_ how long of a shower I'm going to need just to get all of this _junk_ out of my fur!? Whoever you work for really should consider using a clearer power source. What the hell kind of oil do you run on, anyways?"

Sighing at his friend's quick wit, Miles took a serious role in all of this. "Listen, pal," he scowled at the gold robot while his friend calmed down. "We can do this in either two scenarios. Door number one, you call off your troops and get out of the city, and that's the end of it. Door number two, all I can say is that you get destroyed like the rest of your buddies."

"_AND WHO ARE YOU TO GIVE ME ORDERS AND THREATS?"_ the golden robot asked, raising its lance and shield in a defensive manner. The blue hedgehog Chao turned to Miles.

"How are we on time?" he asked.

"I'd say we have about a minute of Power Ring energy," Miles answered. "Give or take ten seconds." The blue hedgehog then disappeared for five seconds, and reappeared. The other eighteen robots suddenly fell apart, surprising the golden robot.

Okay, let me slow down what exactly has the currently unnamed hedgehog Chao hero and Miles been doing for you. The two had originally used the rings at 4:15 p.m. current time, zero minutes and five seconds. After that, they dashed at high speeds, plowing through any remaining Robotnik robots in downtown, much to the confusion of the Speed Team and GUN robots, one minute and twenty-five seconds. Then they went to bash the two robots that were destroyed at the start of this little battle, one minute and thirty-four seconds. After a bit of threatening and complaining, the two saw that the golden robot took (according to Miles) door number two, one minute and fifty eight seconds. And in the five seconds that the hedgehog Chao disappeared, he had flat out went nuts and bashed through the robots in similar methods he had employed before, only at speeds so fast that the robots didn't even _feel_ the effects of his attack until he was done. Total time taken up so far: two minutes and eight seconds. That meant that they had only fifty-one seconds and thirty-eight milliseconds to destroy gold before wearing out. Probably going to be tough, but was still manageable.

"_LOOKS LIKE I UNDERESTIMATED YOUR ABILITIES,"_ the golden robot stated, getting back into focus. _"I SHOULD WARN YOU, HOWEVER, THAT AS A MEMBER OF THE EGG PAWN ELITES, I AM SUPERIOR TO THOSE LESSER GRUNTS YOU HAVE DEFEATED SO FAR."_

"So you guys _do_ have a name!" the blue Chao grinned while placing his sunglasses on top of his head. He then disappeared at impressive speeds again.

Forty-six seconds left.

Now, considering how he had already destroyed the other Egg Pawns so far without _too_ much difficulty, the hedgehog Chao expected to get behind the gold robot, curl up into that ball form again, and plow right through with a little over half a minute of Power Ring energy to spare. However, what he didn't know that the Egg Pawn Elite, although barely stronger and a little more durable than the normal red Egg Pawns they commanded, was a _much_ smarter line than their red counterparts. This being said, they can adapt to almost _any_ battle style by just seeing it in action. So, it didn't take that much effort on its part for the gold Egg Pawn to turn around, block the spinning ball attack with its shield, and then swat the annoying hedgehog Chao away with the large lance, sending him crashing into a pillar. All the damage suffered by the Egg Pawn Elite by that move was a small dent into his heavy shield.

Forty-two seconds left.

The hedgehog got up, a swirl over its head. There were a few traces of crimson liquid on his lips. "That's shield got to go," the hedgehog Chao grumbled as the swirl disappeared, and he wiped the blood off of his mouth.

While the Egg Pawn Elite once again attempted to go into City Hall, Miles had already started to act, clamping onto the back of the golden robot. It was then that he took out his screwdriver again, and plunged it into the back of the robot. Sensing this unwanted presence, the Egg Pawn Elite started to spin its upper body around, in hopes to shake off the passenger. In about ten seconds, it got the results it wanted with Miles being slammed into the front window of an abandoned police car, shattering it on impact. Considering them defeated, the robot turned back towards City Hall.

Thirty-one seconds left.

"Alright," Miles growled, "I think we're going to have to use that combination attack we've been working on."

"Finally," the hedgehog Chao grinned

Both Chao, after finishing recovering from their brief beating, rushed the Egg Pawn Elite at the same time. The robot turned around, annoyed.

"_YOU TWO HAVE NOT LEARNED YOUR LESSON,"_ the Egg Pawn Elite declared. _"CONCLUSION: TEACH BY EXTERMINATION."_

With only twenty-seven seconds left to go, the signs of fatigue and injury were coming back. However, both of them knew that if they let the robot see this, then it would most likely take advantage of the situation. The hedgehog Chao got close to the robot, most likely preparing to curl up again. The Egg Pawn Elite, not surprised that the hedgehog Chao didn't learn from the last time, raised up the shield, and swiped with the lance, hoping to decapitate the pesky rodent Chao. However, instead of letting his head fly off with a fountain of blood, the hedgehog Chao ducked at the last second to let his foxy Chao friend jump onto his back after the swipe, and springboard off of it into the sky, hovering above them.

Twenty-three seconds left.

The Egg Pawn Elite was confused by the sudden aerial maneuver that he didn't register the hedgehog Chao had started to circle it at intense speeds. When it finally caught onto the running, it was too late, though- the hedgehog Chao had created a small tornado to surround the robot before running behind the police car, the wind speed high enough to cause anybody caught in or around it to have troubles keeping their feet on the ground. This of course, included robots, so the gold robot started going airborne, being spun around in the vortex.

Fifteen seconds left.

The hedgehog Chao, sure that the Egg Pawn Elite had gone airborne, dashed out and jumped into the twister, curling into a ball as he did so. He then let the current take him upwards, spinning at rapid speeds. The Egg Pawn Elite had lost its large shield in the confusion of the attack, so it was helpless to the small ocean blue spiky ball of death rushing straight at it, and plowing through its entire body before going into the air. Miles waited until the hedgehog Chao uncurled to extend his hand, grabbing his friend before the hedgehog Chao went too high, like the now lifeless robot was doing.

With only five seconds to spare, the two watched as both the tornado dispersed and the golden robot fell to the ground, shattering to pieces on impact. All around the city, any and all remaining active red Egg Pawns seemed to deactivate upon the destruction of their superior robot. The battle for Station Square had been won by two freelancing Chao.

The two Chao, with no Power Ring energy left, dropped to the ground, exhausted. "…That was awesome," the blue hedgehog Chao barely got out, his chest rising and lowering rapidly as he lied down on his back. "Let's do that again."

"…Maybe later," Miles replied, sitting down. "Let's… get out of here, first." The hedgehog Chao struggled to get up, but could barely move. The fox Chao had the same trouble. The one thing about Power Rings is that at the end of their use, they left you with the _worst_ case of sore muscles to the point that it hurt to move. They were so exhausted, that had started to black out.

That's when the two saw it. Up in the skies, there was a dark gray biplane coming towards them. In the plane, the two Chao could have sworn that there were four humans. But that's all they could see before they both passed out….

---

**Chuck's Garage- 18:09**

The dark blue hedgehog Chao opened his eyes to see that he was lying down on a comfortable pillow. His buddy Miles was also on a pillow, and they were forced to share a blanket. Looking around at the room, the hedgehog Chao didn't know whether or not he was still in the United States. Because with all of the decorations in the room, he sure felt like he was in Egypt. Looking at his fur, the hedgehog Chao was surprised to see that it was sparkling clean- somebody had given him a bath while he was out. All of their stuff- his sunglasses and cyan bracelet, as well as Miles' badge, goggles, tool belt, and the Chaos Morpher- were also cleaned, placed gently on the nightstand for them.

As appreciative as this was, this made the Chao wonder. "Who did all of this for us?" he asked. He nudged Miles awake, and the two looked around. Just as they were about to head to the door, it opened, and they saw Ella.

"Ah, I see the two little 'Hero Chao' that Chris was talking out are awake!" she greeted them. "Do you two even know how big of a ring you left around the bathtub walls?" The dark blue hedgehog blushed in embarrassment. He forgot that he hated water so much that it was a miracle and a half that he convinced Miles to let him bathe only once a month.

"Sorry," both Chao apologized. At this point, Chris walked into the room, himself.

"They're awake, now, aren't they?" he grinned. Ella nodded. "Thanks, Ella."

"No problem," she replied. "Just next time you bring home two superhero Chao, make sure that they're clean before you do so."

"Hey," the hedgehog Chao pointed out with a swirl over his head, "in my defense, I was busy fighting robots that bled oil and knocked me into eggs and milk. I believe I have a _right_ to be dirty!"

You know that one girl that you knew back in either high school or college that absolutely hated to be told anything but what she wanted to hear? That tough-as-nails, "doesn't take crap from anybody" kind of girl? That quote, "psycho bitch", unquote, who if they threatened you, nine times out of ten that threat actually turned out to be a _very good_ promise? I'm not saying that all women tend to act this way, but, if you've seen any of the Tyler Perry _Madea_ movies, you know the kind of woman I'm talking about. Well, Ella was kind of the same way when it came to cleanliness. If anybody told her that they can get away with being dirty in _her_ house, she'd break their neck if she wasn't told to calm down.

Picking the small hedgehog Chao up by one of his ears, Ella glared angrily at him while the swirl faded. "Listen, here," she warned him. "From this position, I can easily kill you in eight ways without leaving this spot. Now, unless you wish to find out what _exactly_ those ways are, I suggest you _try_ to stay clean around me. ¿Entiendes?" The hedgehog Chao would have responded with a smart comment, however, he was still kind of sore from the fight downtown. So, not wanting to risk it, he simply nodded. Ella placed him down.

The hedgehog Chao, while rubbing his ear, turned towards Chris. "So, I take it this is your house?"

Chris shook his head. "Actually, this is my grandfather's house. I live on top of the hill, not too far from this place." Sitting on the bed with the two Chao, he smiled, "Thanks for helping out my friends Frances and Helen at the store, by the way. I heard from them what happened after Mr. Tanaka took my friend Danny home."

The hedgehog Chao blinked. He had heard of the name Helen from that pink Chao he met, so he had assumed it was the name of the blond girl in the wheelchair. However, this was the first time he heard Frances… maybe it had been the girl that destroyed the robots with him and Miles. "No problem," he honestly replied. "It's what we do."

"What exactly do you guys do?" Chris questioned. "Because I'm pretty sure that normal Chao don't go around bashing robots."

"True," Miles agreed. "What we normally do is go around, helping people in trouble. And boy, there sure were plenty of them, today."

"Yeah," Chris smiled. "I saw that last battle, myself. You guys sure know how to fight." He then offered a hand. "I'm Chris Thorndyke. And you guys?"

"Call me Miles," the fox Chao announced, placing his hand in the human's. The hedgehog Chao also placed his hand in Chris' palm.

"As for me," the hedgehog Chao finally introduced himself, "…I've been called Swift. Nice to meet ya, Chris." The human then shook their tiny hands.

"Hey, Chris!" Chuck's voice carried up the stairs. "Are the two Chao we rescued in the plane awake, yet?" Swift's ears couldn't help but twitch. He thought he had heard that voice, before. But just to be sure, he closed his eyes, and tried to sense the Chaos Energy levels in the house. Now, he couldn't help but feel as though as he was tied at second for the strongest levels of Chaos energy in the house- there was another scent just as strong as him in this very room. It couldn't possibly be Miles, as his Chaos Energy reading was barely over half of the energy Swift was dealing out, though it was ridiculously close. However, that wasn't important- what _was_ important was the stronger scent coming from downstairs. Letting go of Chris' hand, he then jumped off of the bed, and dashed downstairs. There was a muffled scream, making Chris and Ella both jump.

"Oh crap," Miles groaned. The three then head downstairs to see a rather interesting sight. Swift was on top of a surprised Chuck, holding the gem that Chuck found in the Mayan empire in one hand, and had Chuck by the collar of his shirt in the other. "Hey, isn't that the Emerald!?"

"Yep," Swift replied, holding the gem victoriously in his hand. "But more importantly… I think I finally found our thief of the other day back in Latin America. Isn't that right, old man?" Chris and Ella both looked shocked.

---

**Swift:** Alright, we're finally done with the first episode!

**Miles:** Swift, I believe we're supposed to be doing previews for the next episode.

**Swift:** Oh, sorry… too early to call it quits.

**Chris:** What do you mean my grandfather stole that gem of yours?

**Swift:** First of all, it's called a Chaos Emerald, and second, I know he did.

**Chris:** Well, even if he did, he'll give it back to you. But for now, I promised my friends I'd go to the mall to make sure they're alright.

**Swift:** I don't know about you, but I'm going to consider that a wasted day unless something cool happened, like a giant robot chicken.

**Miles:** Well, if something ridiculous like that, happens, the Morpher is almost complete, Swift. You just need to find a human who has almost the same amount of Chaos Energy as you do

**Chris:** Next time, on _Sonic Chao Chronicles:_ The Blue Blur! Enter the Hero, Sonic the Hedgehog!

**Swift:** Just try to keep up with me!

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, this one's finally finished. Oh, yes, a robot chicken. How cute, Swift. Like a robot chicken's going to come invading the mall on a path of revenge for what you did to Robotnik's last batch of robots. …Oh, who am I fooling?

**Zohaku:** Of course they'll get it working soon, what did you expect? Miles _is_ the Chao embodiment of Tails, after all (good guess, by the way, I just wanted to use his real name). By the way, you get an imaginary cookie for the _Tomb Raider_ series. And naturally, the Morpher Miles is working on is a mere prototype, and he plans to mass produce them. Also, great guesses on two people, I was intentionally hinting them joining the team. As for Frances, I gave her a last name- Burns? Now, who do you know from the Sonic series that has the ability to _burn stuff?_

**White Hunter:** Geez, I don't really know how Chris will react. Knowing me, he'll think it's really cool and freaky at the same time.

**Edvis93:** …You win an imaginary cookie for guessing the thief! *Bangs gabble* Congrats for guessing who took it.

By the way, the rest of the exchange about the Emerald will finish up in the next episode. Kingdom Rider92, out!


	4. Episode 2, Part 1

A/N: Alright, then. Now, if you all have been waiting for more _Chao Chronicles,_ well, here you go.

---

**Thorndyke Manor- 09:14**

Swift hated only two days of the week. Swift loathed Mondays, because usually bad things happened to him on this particular day of the week. As for the reason why he hated Saturdays, well… they were flat-out boring. At least Mondays mixed it up with what happens to him, but Saturdays are completely bland. Nobody gets into serious trouble on Saturdays, anymore, which made them boring.

And the worst thing about today, so far, was that it was Saturday.

So, Swift, being rather used to living life in the fast lane and in the heat of the action, was bored of the luxurious mansion of his gracious host. After last night at Chuck's home, Swift and Miles agreed to stay at Chris' for the night. After a brief tour of the house and Ella and Tanaka laying out some very serious ground rules, they were allowed to stay. Right now, Miles was working on the Morpher, utilizing the recovered Emerald to do so, while Chris decided to tell his parents about "Flight Test 19's" success, as well as "adopting" Swift and Miles. This left Swift to do whatever he wanted as long as he didn't leave the premises unsupervised or make a mess.

So, here Swift was, working on his tan in a pool chair a good enough distance away from the water, flicking his sunglasses up and down while lying on his back. As he did this, he couldn't help but think of what happened, last night.

---

_**Last Night at Chuck's Garage**_

"…_I think I finally found our thief back in Latin America," Swift announced, holding the Emerald in one tiny hand, and Chuck by the collar in the other. "Isn't that right, old man?"_

_Both Chris and Ella gasped at this declaration. Chuck blinked, "EXCUSE ME!? What do you mean, I stole this gem?" Swift casually jumped off of Chuck's shirt, and held the Emerald in front of Chuck's face._

"_About a week ago," Miles calmly stated, "you were in the ruins of the Mayan Empire as a part of a human excavation of the place, am I right?" Chuck calmly nodded- proud of his visits to Latin America, of course he'd admit to going there. "Stop me if I'm wrong, but during that excavation, several relics were discovered there. One of which was a seeming abandoned Mayan home. There wasn't much there but a couple beds small enough for Chao like us… and an ocean blue gem the size of a baseball, kind of like the one my colleague has in his hands. Did you happen to remove the gem?"_

_Now, this question Chuck had to struggle with. Of course it was the truth, but he didn't know whether to tell them. On one hand, he could tell the truth and accept the consequences, which couldn't be that severe, anyways. He had studied Chao code, and Chuck knew that if Wild Chao such as these two were invited into his home- and what better way to invite them in than by calling over Ella to give them baths, polish up their stuff, and letting them sleep in his guest room- then they couldn't actually hurt him and get away with it. On the other hand, though, lying to them wasn't a bad idea, either- he could say that he bought it as a gift for his daughter in-law. Lindsey's 40__th__ birthday _was_ coming up in three weeks, and with the movie shoot, there would be no way that she could have seen it, yet. Besides, they looked gullible enough, and for all he knew, they could have been partners with that thief Chao on the news. However, he had taught Chris better than to lie- now was not the time to be a hypocrite. So, with a heavy conscience, he answered Miles' question._

"…_Yeah, I did," Chuck solemnly admitted. Swift, content with the confession, placed the emerald in his quills._

"_It looks like the mystery of the missing Chaos Emerald has been solved," Swift smiled. "I can now sleep better at night with this thing by my side."_

_Chris, confused by the name, asked, "Wait, an Emerald? Last time I checked, emeralds aren't exactly blue, they're usually green. If anything, that would be a sapphire."_

_Swift took the Emerald back out, and said, "Not Chaos Emeralds- they're each different colors… at least, that's what my mom told me years back. Though, she _did_ mention that there is a green one… but that's not important." Holding out the gem to Chris, he explained, "Each Chaos Emerald holds limitless power, and Chao exposed to them at young ages can practically be mutated by the Chaos Energy… kind of like me with my speed and Miles with his two tails, over there."_

_Miles sheepishly stated, "Well, while we look- and probably act- weird, deep down, we're still Chao. Just genetically altered Chao courtesy of overexposure to Chaos Energy at a juvenile age." Swift blinked at this description, a question mark over his head. "Mutant Chao."_

"_Oh," the hedgehog Chao realized, the question mark fading. Swift then looked at Chuck- after being told that the gem was a Chaos Emerald, Chuck's normal look of interest turned into a serious look, as if he was thinking about something. Perhaps he wasn't too happy about the fact that they've spent an entire week tracking him down for a gem. To Chuck, he stated, "Sorry for all of the stalker trouble. We'll just take the Emerald off of your hands and head back to the ruins." He and Miles_

"_Wait a minute," Chris interjected. "Can't you at least stay for a while? You guys are welcome at my house for as long as you want."_

"_Isn't that like adopting us?" Miles asked. He thought about it. "Well, a mansion sure beats the heck out of that shoddy ruin home, but we'll have to go back, sooner or later."_

"_Hey," Swift growled, a swirl over his head, "I happen to _like_ that shoddy ruin home!" Everybody else got a pretty decent laugh at Swift's expense. Eventually, after some convincing from Miles, Swift agreed to move in… for now. Chuck had even let them keep the Emerald without a fuss. So, after grabbing their gear and the Morpher, the two Chao headed out with Chris and Ella._

---

**Episode 2: The Blue Blur! Enter the Hero, Sonic the Hedgehog!**

---

**Back to Present**

After reviewing last night, Swift flipped over onto his stomach, thinking about the Chaos Emerald. It had been a comfort object to him ever since the day he hatched from his egg. It was his mother's gift to him as a baby Chao. Now, it was all he had to remember her after she passed away. After that, Swift had traveled across the world, making sure that his Emerald was safe.

As far as he knew, Miles also had contact with an Emerald, too, when he was born, as well as a pair of baby foxes- hence, the two tails. While Miles had contact with the dark blue Chaos Emerald, the one Miles had contact with was currently unknown in location, but he said it was red, giving him the power to fly.

Speaking of Miles, as the hedgehog Chao was getting ready to take a nap, the fox Chao started to tap on the glass window that led into the house, trying to get Swift's attention. The dark blue Chao looked up, and saw Miles holding the Chaos Morpher in his hands. Miles yelled something, but it was muffled by the glass.

Swift, confused, tilted his head to the side. Miles, obviously annoyed enough to have a swirl over his head, took in a deep breath, and released it, fogging the window. He then quickly wrote a message onto the window in the fog. Sadly for Swift, it was backwards. The only thing he could get out of it was "!DEHSINIF YLLANIF SI REHPROM SOAHC EHT", and that didn't exactly click with his brain until he looked at the reflection in the pool. (A/N: Spell that entire message backwards, and you'll understand what Swift saw, because I'm not typing the real message.)

Swift, eager to see what was up, kicked off of the chair, and rushed over to the glass door as the message and fog faded. Looking at his friend, Swift was instantly disgusted- Miles had quite the bags under his eyes. Two days of nearly no sleep with do that to just about anybody, human or Chao. Swift slightly cracked open the door, and whispered, "What have you been _doing,_ buddy?"

Miles yawned, "Well, while _you_ have been resting, _I_ spent the night peacefully catching up the final adjustments to the Morpher that were a week overdue. Now, all that's left is the field test, and for that, you need a human partner."

"What are you two talking about?" Chris asked them, opening the door. Today, Chris was wearing a dark blue and white striped t-shirt over a white long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. Swift and Miles looked up at him, the former having a shocked exclamation point over head, and the later yawning while holding up the Chaos Morpher. Curious, Chris took a look at it. "What exactly is this thing, anyways, some kind of hi-tech Chao-made wristwatch?"

"Oh, Chaos," Miles groaned, "I don't wanna explain this for the twenty-_first_ time this week. Swift, please tell me you remember what I've told you… I'm way too tired to explain it, myself."

"You should've gotten some sleep," Swift replied. Turning to Chris, he began, "Okay, promise to keep this a secret between us. Anyways, here's the short version of that thing- that's a Chaos Morpher, a special device of Miles' own design, which he used some old research notes of one of the scientists that was using our Mayan headquarters to instruct him in building it. It uses Chaos Energy to spiritually bond the souls of both a human and a Chao to create… um… well, we don't exactly _know_ yet, but from what the notes said, it looks like it could recreate the Mobian species that has been mostly wiped out."

"The watch _is_ still a prototype," Miles replied, despite being plum tired. "And for all we know, those notes that the scientist left in the sight could have been complete bull crap. They are over half a century old, and from the looks of it, they had never been put to the test. Still, as a scientist Chao, I'd be damned if I didn't at least try it out. We came here on two missions- one was to recover the Emerald, which we've already done. And the second was to finish and test the Morpher out, which since it has had its proper exposure to Chaos Energy to charge the battery, we just need to find a human subject."

"How hard could that be?" Chris asked. "There are millions of people in this town."

"Problem, though," Swift remembered. "The ideal human test subject would have to be compatible with the Chaos Energy levels I have, since Miles and I have long ago agreed that I'm going to be the first Chao to do this. Everybody has Chaos Energy in their veins- that would be the cause of the Emeralds spreading out throughout the years. Now, the average human wouldn't even have that much energy I can use, so not too many humans would be able to work on sync with me."

"Guess you're going to have to keep looking," Miles yawned, handing Swift the Chaos Emerald he had borrowed. "I'm going to be sleeping for a few hours to get back a few days worth of it." He then headed upstairs to Chris' room, planning on using the bed to get comfortable.

Swift shook his head. Looking at the Emerald, he thought, _What was that reading I got last night? It was just like mine…._ Now, he knew for sure it wasn't Miles- that Chao had plenty of Chaos Energy, but not the kind that he had. It wasn't Chuck, either- not only was there too much of an age difference between them (Swift was about five in human years, but fifteen in Chao years, while Chuck was around his mid-sixties, and sixty-five times three was too great of Chao years to even consider) but there wasn't enough Chaos Energy to pass Miles. Now, he was sure it wasn't Tanaka- he didn't come home until after dropping Danny off, and he wasn't there when Swift reclaimed his Chaos Emerald, and even if he was, Tanaka's readings were just in between Miles and Chuck. That only left Chris and Ella as possible candidates, and he'd rather not have to use Ella- crazy woman yelled at him this morning when he got too near the flower bed in the front. Not to mention that Swift rather not attempt to break any gender boundaries.

That meant that out of his possible human partners, then Swift could only guess that the energy signal he detected… came from Chris. But Swift didn't want to accept that- Chris seemed like a nice enough kid, and he'd rather not put him in any danger unless necessary. Perhaps it could've been combined with Ella's signal…

Before he could ponder this any further, Chris' cell phone rang, pulling Swift out of his thoughts. Chris took the phone out of his pocket, and answered it. "Good morning," he greeted the person on the other side of the phone.

"_Hey Chris!"_ Helen's voice replied over the phone. _"I heard from Danny that you found those two Chao from yesterday."_ Swift's ears, being slightly more tuned than most humans, heard this part, and blinked. Was that the same Helen from yesterday?

"Yeah," Chris admitted. "But right now, only one of them is up and moving- the other didn't get much sleep, last night. He was curious about something, I believe." Swift thought this was a reasonable answer- Miles could have spent the night being curious about the mansion. However, Swift had just sworn Chris to secrecy about the Morpher.

"_Oh, too bad,"_ Helen sighed. _"Well, if they're okay for now, do you want to hang out at the mall, later? You can bring the other Chao to keep Amy company!"_ This made Swift blink- there was another Chao, yesterday. It was the pink hedgehog Chao. The only female hedgehog Chao he ever had any real interaction with was his mother. It would rather be kind of awkward… but then again, that hedgehog Chao complimented him. That, and he had never been to a mall, before, so he didn't know what it was like.

Well, Chris had made the decision for him by saying, "Well, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Hopefully, not too many people recognize him, today!" Swift had an exclamation point over his head- he had totally forgot that during the whole incident, he was seen by about thirty people. They had most likely told everybody they knew that there was a really fast Chao going around and saving people, and people would most likely want to cuddle or keep him- and he had reluctantly let Chris keep him in the first place.

"_Alright, Chris,"_ Helen told him. _"Meet us at the entrance to _Tracey's_ around noon. See ya then."_ With that, Helen hung up. (A/N: I don't suppose you won't guess the reference to the store name, here. But still, imaginary cookie to the first who gets it.) Chris closed the phone and pocketed it as well as the Chaos Morpher, and turned to Swift.

"Hey, Chris," Swift asked. "Not to be rude, but you wouldn't happen to have anything that can disguise me, do you?"

"…Uh, sure," Chris awkwardly replied. "I'm sure we have something to hide your identity around here… but why do you need that?" Just then, the doorbell rang. Swift quickly turned to the front door in shock, and then dashed into the kitchen. Chris shook his head at the randomness of the Chao's antics. So, he walked over to the door, and opened it.

In the doorway stood a familiar man to Chris- a man about Tanaka's height with orange-red hair, sky blue eyes, a rather handsome face, and tanned skin wearing a dark red jumpsuit. "Well," the man began, "if it isn't my favorite nephew! How are you doing, Chris?"

"I'm doing great, Uncle Sam," Chris replied. "And for the record, I'm your _only_ nephew."

Samuel Speed, the leader of Station Square's special SWAT unit known as the Speed King, also known as quite ridiculous titles such as "Speed King, Highway Star, Saint of the Road, Lord of the Car, God of Turbo," and his personal favorite, "Fastest Thing Alive," just happened to be the older brother of Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke, therefore Chris' uncle. He and Tanaka were the reason why the two first met. Now, usually the godparent of a child is either the most trusted sibling of one of the parents or a really close family friend. And considering how slightly immature Sam acted at times (coming up with all of the nicknames and the overall insanity and risk that came with his job) as well as Tanaka's superior martial arts training and willingness to help Nelson and Lindsey, they decided to go with Tanaka. As far as Lindsey and Nelson were concerned, Sam didn't take it badly- in fact, he could still come and go as he pleased, and he helped Tanaka with watching Chris- who else could help Tanaka get to San Francisco in time to raise hell on Li Yan's men and get back in one piece before anybody noticed that Chris, Chuck, and Danny were gone?

Sam chuckled, "Of course you are. But I'm not just here to chat." His normal grin turned into a serious expression. "Have you watched the news of what happened downtown, yesterday?"

Chris blinked at this. Of course he had seen the news, this morning. He didn't exactly need to see that on the news- in fact, he saw it all with his last flight test. But did he actually need to tell his uncle that? Well, his uncle _did_ agree to cover up flight test eighteen…. "Y-yeah," Chris replied. "That looked terrible, yesterday."

"It was," Sam replied. "However, that's _not_ what concerns me." Looking around inside the house, he asked, "Did you happen to see a really fast blue thing? It looked like the racing type." Chris mentally started to sweat. His uncle was called downtown to help deal with the threat, yesterday, so of course he had seen Swift plowing through robots.

"…I don't think I did, Uncle Sam," Chris lied. He hated lying, but he promised Swift that he wouldn't tell anybody about the Chaos Morpher. And right now, that promise also applied to the two Chao. Christ just hoped that Sam believed him.

Sam didn't exactly look convinced, but he'd rather not pressure his nephew. "Well," Sam sighed, "if you happen to find out what that blue thing is and happen to see it, tell it that the Speed King wants to defend his title as Fastest Thing Alive at the Station Square Speed Highway at 2 pm, sharp. And that's a message from me; the commissioner gave me a different message to deliver: 'Whatever the hell that blue thing is as well as the yellow-orange thing, they are both under arrest for speeding and vigilante acts.'" He then walked away from the front porch, and headed to the street, where his signature dark red formula-one model high-speed pursuit car was waiting. He took out a helmet from the driver's seat, and yelled, "I'll see you later, Chris!" He then placed it over his head, and jumped into the car. Moments later, the car's engine bellowed, and mere seconds after that, Sam Speed was practically flying down the road.

Even though he had only seen that every time Sam left, Chris couldn't help but stare at the sight of a blazing red vehicle moving that fast. Swift casually walked out while holding a really large apple, and saw the sight, himself. Whistling, the hedgehog Chao announced, "Now _that's_ what I call fast!" Chris looked down at the Chao, who was curiously looking at the apple. There were bits of food already on Swift's mouth, and he looked ready to eat an apple the size of his head.

"…Where did you get that apple?" Chris asked. "You didn't take that from the kitchen, did you?"

"Hey, I was hungry," Swift scowled before letting out a small burp. "Now, can I borrow a knife? I think I have an idea for a disguise."

---

**Unknown Location- 10:46**

The red robots never could compute why their creator preferred to work in the darkness. Perhaps it was because he was a living vampire who couldn't operate in the sun. Perhaps he was albino behind his dark blue glasses, and the light burned his eyes. Or perhaps his preference to the dark symbolized how the world of the light shunned his family's work. But they weren't exactly programmed to ponder why their creator worked in the darkness… they were programmed to be the ultimate soldiers to aid in global conquest. If you haven't caught onto what these robots were, I'm going to come out and say that they're the red Egg Pawns from the previous episode.

And right now, the Egg Pawns were studying secretly obtained footage of the lost battle of Station Square. They were ordered to observe the mistakes of their brethren, brush up on covering their weaknesses, and, of course, analyze the two meddling Chao that attacked and destroyed their comrades that should have by now have Station Square rotting under their feet. They were, however, to take specific note of the dark blue hedgehog Chao that destroyed the Egg Pawn Elite.

There was one human among them studying, though. The man was rather tall, and looked rather odd with his long, thin legs supporting his quite literally egg shaped upper body. The reason why he had such girth wasn't because he was out of shape- as a matter of fact he exercised on a regular basis, and even did lucha libre on the side. It just happened to be a genetic curse of the males of his family. His grandfather had the egg shape, his father had the egg shape, and should the man actually settle down and have a sun, the poor boy would most likely have an egg shaped upper body, too. Anyways, the man had a long, hooked nose, a bald head, dark red mustache, and tanned, slightly wrinkled skin. He was wearing a pair of dark blue glasses over his eyes, a crimson red lab coat over a large black jumpsuit, and a pair of white gloves, and a serious look on his face.

"So…" the man began in a sinister voice, "my plan to start the invasion in America was somehow foiled by two mutant Chao?"

"_That would seem like it, sir,"_ a tall, thin golden robot with a pill shaped head announced while walking up to the man. And no, this was not C-3PO from _Star Wars,_ in case you're wondering. _"We're currently investigating what could possibly have caused such a mutagen to develop in them."_

"Please," the doctor scoffed. "I don't need you all to investigate such a trivial matter… I already know what gave that hedgehog Chao his super speed and that fox Chao the two tails that give him the ability of a helicopter."

"_You do?"_ a short and stout silver robot with a rounder head questioned.

"But of course, my loyal creations," the man began. "My grandfather, Prof. Gerald Robotnik, before he met his end and made the Robotniks fall from grace, had been researching a special set of seven gems called the 'Chaos Emeralds.' These Emeralds were brought to our world by the Chao, and is their life source. Should newborn Chao be too close to one of the seven Emeralds, though, they develop mutant powers that- if not handled properly- could destroy a small country. If all seven are reunited, however… the destructive power unleashed could wipe out all life on a planet." Both robots were shocked by this news.

"_Sir,"_ the gold robot queried, _"are you saying that our soldiers were dealing with the deadliest Chao alive?"_

"Quite possibly," the man calmly replied. "But it's not to be said that they aren't gods. They can be killed. And from the looks of the combat video, these Chao were pushing their limits at the end of the battle, suggesting they're mortal. This is why I'm sending one of deadlier inventions to finish them off before they can continue interfering with any future plans." With this, he casually walked over to a large computer monitor, and started pressing buttons. He found a robot he liked for the job. It was a giant, robotic hen with a drill beak, powerful egg launching cannon, razor sharp wings, and armor piercing talons. Now, if it just had the ability to fly, it would be the ultimate destruction tool.

Dr. Ivo Robotnik only grinned as he gave the orders. "Dispatch the Egg Crower to Station Square, and draw out the blue Chao. I want him either to join us or be destroyed."

---

**Station Square Mall, in front of **_**Tracey's-**_** 11:56**

"So," Tanaka said while driving a black Lamborghini, looking at Chris with his rearview mirror. "Let me get this straight. We're now housing two vigilantes not even a foot tall."

"Yep," Chris solemnly replied. "But as far as anyway affiliated with the police know, they don't know where Swift and Miles are."

"Still, Master Chris," Tanaka stated, "this makes me wonder if the success of flight test number nineteen went to your head. And more importantly… what is Master Swift wearing?" He was looking at the dark blue creature with a huge, red apple for a head with large holes for eyes in the backseat next to Chris.

"Well," Swift stated, "it was either this apple or an orange, and that fruit clashes _terribly_ with my fur scheme." Both Chris and Tanaka were slightly disturbed by the statement. "Now that we're done arguing that, can you guys tell me what goes down in a mall?"

"Well," Chris began, "malls are placing for people to hang out and shop in. Why? Haven't you ever been in one?"

"No," Swift replied. "Where I come from, we didn't exactly have malls, and I'm normally too busy looking for people to help out to even consider. Well, I've officially wasted my time, today."

"Why's that?" Chris questioned.

"Are you kidding?" Swift asked. "You honestly expect me to just stick around and go with you shopping, Chris? I like you, man, but I can't just stay still like that. I'll find my own thing to do." Swift unbuckled his seatbelt, and reached for the button to lower the car window.

As Tanaka parked, he slyly asked Swift, "Are you _really_ going to go on your own, Master Swift? Do not forget that you are wanted for acts of vigilantism, and the moment you leave Master Chris' side to go explore the town you are practically asking to be arrested and possibly experimented on by the military. And since we know about you, we can report you to the authorities at anytime." Swift stopped reaching for the button, and blinked.

"…Does he blackmail people like this all the time, Chris?" Swift intrigued.

"Only those he helps cover for," Chris answered. Swift had to think about it for a bit. As much as it pained him to admit it- to the point that the visible green dot over his head became a swirl- Tanaka was right. They knew too much about him, and he was only safe in their custody. The moment he left was the moment that he could be arrested, and from what he could tell from the little amount of television and business experience he knew, that the man in charge of a business getting arrested for any reason at all wasn't exactly the best way to start out the business. And should Swift actually attempt to escape, he'd have to return to the Thorndyke residence, sooner or later, because Miles was there. He then sighed, and scowled.

"Chaos damn you and your logic, Mr. Tanaka," the Chao admitted in defeat. "Fine, I'll stay with Chris. But don't think for a freaking minute that I will like it."

After the three got out of the car, they walked over to the entrance to _Tracey's,_ and saw Danny, Frances, Helen, and Amy. Danny's outfit for the day was a gray vest over a yellow t-shirt and a pair of tan cargo pants; Frances was wearing a light blue blouse and a pair of jean shorts; and Helen was wearing a pale green sun dress and her hair tied in a ponytail. Amy was looking at Swift's apple disguise, confused. "Hey, guys," the little pink Chao asked with a question mark over her head while jumping out of Helen's lap. "Who's this Chao?"

_That ridiculous disguise actually _works? Tanaka questioned in his head. Not letting anybody see this, he greeted, "Good day to you all."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Tanaka," Helen, Frances, and Danny all greeted the butler. They all looked at Amy's confusion.

"Seriously though," Amy asked, "does anybody know who this Chao is?" Swift casually lifted the apple disguise off of his head, shocking Amy. With an exclamation point over her head, she gasped, "Hey, there!"

"…I'm not going to lie," Swift admitted while placing the apple mask on his face and the exclamation point over Amy faded. "I'm not going to like this trip, but I'll endure."

"Why's that?" Helen asked while Amy jumped back into her lap.

"Some people hate Mondays," Swift replied. "I hate Mondays, myself. But I'm _really _not a Saturday morning Chao. Especially when I know nothing cool is going to happen on Saturdays."

"Swift," Chris glared at the Chao.

"…Well, nothing usually happens on Saturdays for me."

"So," Danny asked while looking at him. "Your name is Swift, and the other Chao is Miles." Swift had a question mark above his head. Seeing the confusion, Danny answered, "Frances told me that the fox Chao's name was Miles."

"Oh," Swift replied, the question mark fading. Sighing, he thought, _Let's get the shopping over with._

For the next hour, Swift was horribly bored as he went with the humans and Amy from store to store, either looking at clothes or games, talking about whatever came to mind, and whatever else that the average person does at a mall. And the prices of some things that actually peaked Swift's interest made his eyes go wide.

"Seventy-eight US dollars!?" Swift questioned while looking at a red and white vest that looked like it could fit him, an exclamation point above his head. The vest had pockets on the inside, so it allowed storage for later. "It's a vest!"

"…This is your first time in a mall, isn't it?" Amy asked while looking at the vest with him. Swift casually nodded. She giggled, "Yeah, I should probably mention that the stuff here is ridiculously pricy."

"_Now_ somebody tells me!" the blue hedgehog Chao scowled beneath his apple disguise.

However, Chris did buy the vest for him, as well as a similar tan and yellow vest for Miles. So, all he had to do was put that on, place the sunglasses over his eyes, take the Emerald out of his quills and place it in one of the pockets while nobody was looking, and he could safely get rid of the apple head. A good thing, too, because was starting to get hungry with it on, and even after eating it with Amy's help (aw, that's sweet… moving on), they were still hungry.

So, here they were in the food court. While Chris and Tanaka were getting them all food, Frances, Helen, Danny, and Amy were left alone with Swift. So, they decided to ask him questions. "So," Helen began, "you're clearly not from around Station Square, Swift. Where do you and Miles come from?"

"That answer depends," Swift replied. "Are you asking where we originally were before we came to the States, or where we were born?"

"Before coming to the States."

"Ah, that's an easy one. We were in the ruins of the Mayan Empire in Latin America before coming here."

"You guys came all of the way from Maya to here?" Danny asked.

"Yep," Swift replied. "We could have been here sooner than a week had we not stopped and checked a few towns for food."

"That reminds me," Frances stated, remembering Swift's order. "Why would you ask for a foot long chili dog? I thought Chao were herbivores."

"I'm not," Swift replied. "Most Chao choose to be on a strictly Chao Fruit diet. If Miles is right, it's because Chao fruit provide us with most of the nutrients we need to survive. However, they naturally don't provide us with protein. And, being a wild raised Chao, we sometimes have to hunt for our own meals."

"Interesting," Amy thought aloud, hooked on Swift's every word. While Swift didn't seem to notice, Helen could tell that her Chao had a crush on him. "I never really knew too much about how Chao survived in the wild. I just happened to hatch in Helen's rose garden."

"See," Swift smiled, "it amazes me as to how Chao are so versatile in terms of living environments, even after having a couple different ones, myself! We can practically live anywhere except in outer space. It's just so cool to actually meet a hedgehog Chao that was born in the city." Amy just turned away, hiding a blush that only Helen and Frances saw. Just then, Chris and Tanaka arrived with their food.

"So," Tanaka asked Swift after they all began eating, "do you still feel like leaving?"

"Partially," Swift replied before taking a bite out of the chili dog he ordered. After swallowing, Swift continued, "But right now, I'm fine. But don't think you guys have me sold into staying, just yet."

"By the way," Frances asked after taking a sip from her strawberry milkshake, "how are your ribs, today? You said that robot cracked a few, right?"

"Oh, they're fine," Swift answered. "The average Chao heals at least three times as fast as a normal human. However, a hedgehog Chao heals twice that amount. From a minor bruise, it'll heal up within seconds. But even I can't keep on the move for long, hence last night." He was about to take another bite when his ears twitched. Swift's sixth sense, the sense of Chaos, was pouring into his sense of hearing. With levels of Chaos energy so high that they were practically coming out of his ears, Swift could hear the sound of a feather falling on the ground, a pin dropping, and even the giant metal feet that were approaching his location. Wait, what?

"What's wrong, Swift?" Chris asked the Chao, making him break from his concentration. Swift blinked, but then remembered. They didn't have the trained senses that he practically had.

"We may wanna leave," Swift casually answered. "I've suddenly got a bad feeling about staying here."

"What do you mean by that?" Danny asked. Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed, sending pieces of glass, concrete, and metal everywhere as a large, metal chicken crashed down onto the ground, surrounded by red Egg Pawns. The metal chicken crowed in rage, looking around the mall as several people started to run. "Oh my god, what the hell is that thing!?"

"The bad feeling from earlier," Swift replied, taking another bite out of his chili dog. "…I'm going to make this quick. This is going to be a fireworks show. At least there's plenty of Spin Dash fodder for me to scrap." Swift casually placed the chili dog down before disappearing in the blink of an eye, heading straight towards a red Egg Pawn.

The Egg Pawns started to casually patrol the mall. According to the doctor's scanners, the blue hedgehog Chao that had destroyed their brethren before was here, somewhere. But where, exactly, they didn't know. Malls are the one of the worst places to get lost in, considering that they have way too many people in them. However, one of the Egg Pawns found him… however, I'm pretty sure that through one's chest is not exactly where you'd like to find a spiky blue ball of death. Swift actually avoided being covered in oil this time, since he made the attack fast and furious. And with a Chaos Emerald safely tucked away in his new vest pocket, Swift had virtually unlimited energy.

"Hey, bolt brains!" the Chao began yelling at the Egg Pawns. "I heard there was a huge party at the local scrap mill, and you all were on the guest list! Allow me to give you directions!" The robots all turned to him, and Swift casually ran a few through with his super speed and strength. I'd describe it for you, but Swift did it so fast, not even my typing can keep up with his speedy dismantling of four robots. However, the large, metal chicken took notice of this, and swatted the hedgehog Chao away from its remaining fellow machines with but a wing. Swift hit a food court table hard enough to crack it in half, much to the shock of Chris and his friends.

"Swift, are you okay?" Amy asked in worry while Swift picked himself up, a swirl of annoyance and pain over it.

"I'm fine, just a little pissed off, right now," Swift growled, looking at the large chicken. "That thing's gotta go!" The chicken simply turned away from Swift, and pointed its backside at him. Swift had a question mark at this gesture, until he saw the large egg come flying out from its behind- by then, it was an exclamation point. "Great Gatsby!" the hedgehog Chao gasped before jumping out of the way of a large, metal egg that ran straight through the table that Chris and company were sitting out earlier, crushing their food, including Swift's chili dog. "…Oh Lord Chaos."

"Swift," Danny yelled at him while he and the other five that were with him hid behind a bench. "I don't think that hen is in your league! Get over here, and we'll figure a way out of this!"

"…No," Swift answered, a scowl of annoyance on his face behind his sunglasses. "…Nobody crushes my chili dog and gets away with it scot free. This just got personal."

---

**Human Card:** Edward Tanaka

**Occupation:** Butler to Thorndyke family, and Bodyguard of Christopher Thorndyke

**Known Relatives:** Christopher Thorndyke (godson), other relatives deceased

**Hobbies:** Watching action movies, martial arts, blackmailing Swift

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, this took too long to write. That and I've actually been playing _Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves_ too much. God, I fail at that game. Oh, yeah, reviews.

**Zohaku:** Um, yeah. I thought that would make you figure it out. Also, it's impressive that martial arts can crush robots. I mean, look at the games, and you'll notice that Sonic can destroy most of the robots sent after him in one hit. _Sonic Heroes _made the minor enemies a bit more complicated by adding health meters. So, either the robots are made of not really durable metal or the _Sonic_ characters are that strong. I'm going with a little of both on this issue.

**White Hunter**: Thank you. I'm sorry there's not much action in this chapter, but Swift's just being introduced to Chris' life.

**SPark681:** You win an imaginary cookie for guessing the reference. By the way, Blaze the Cat _is_ in the _Sonic_ series. She was first introduced in _Sonic Rush,_ then _Sonic the Hedgehog 2006,_ and her final major role has been in _Sonic Rush Adventure._ I plan to use Blaze in the series, but don't know how to properly introduce her until later.

**Salamander Hanzo:** Shortest review I've ever read. And I've seen a lot of short reviews. Still, thanks for the review.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I'll try to get the next part out soon enough. Rest in peace, Swift's unfinished chili dog. Rest in peace. Kingdom Rider92 out!


	5. Episode 2, Part 2

A/N: Thank you for your patience, folks. Here is your reward. Oh, by the way, when it gets close to Halloween time, I plan to do a spin-off fic for _Chao Chronicles._ You'll see.

Oh, by the way, I forgot about telling you the difference between thoughts and speech, didn't I?

'_Human Thought'_= italics and one quotation

'_**Chao Thought'**_ bold, italics, and one quotation

"_NORMAL ROBOT SPEECH"=_ italics, all caps, and normal quotes

"_Humanlike robots/radio/telephone speech"=_ italics and normal quotes

"**Chaos Morpher Transformation"**= bold, and normal quotes

_**Written word outside of Maria's journals**_= bold and italics

"Normal Speech"= normal quotes.

I'm terribly sorry, people. I promise this goes for all chapters before and after this one, as well.

---

**Robot Card:** Egg Crower

**Model:** E-0016

**Equipment:** Razor sharp talons and wings, drilling beak, capable of shooting eggs out of its hide, the usual chicken death machine equipment

**Purpose:** Capture or extermination unit

---

**Station Square Mall, in the Food Court- 13:36**

Now, I'm not going lie. People get angry at the slightest things. For some, it would be eating out at an expensive restaurant and finding out how huge the bill is. For others, it's when their car seems to be working fine when it suddenly breaks down on you. For Swift, though, he gets mad over innocent people being hurt and/or killed, extreme boredom, and, in this case, when his chili dog was destroyed by a giant metal chicken.

Most people would just shrug their shoulders, and say, "Screw it, it's a chili dog. Right now, I have to find a way to stay alive!" Well, that's most people. Swift, in case you haven't noticed, isn't "most people." That, and the best chili dog stand in the mall was crushed during the break between episode parts by _another _metal egg, so he can't go get a fresh one after dealing with the chicken.

"If you want a war, Ms. Metal Feathers," Swift yelled up to her, "you just got one!" Swift, ignoring the smaller Egg Pawns, rushed up towards the metal chicken, curled into his ball form, and launched himself straight at it. Swift was fairly certain that if the Egg Pawns he has already fought were easy for him to plow through, then why shouldn't the chicken robot? This would be an agreeable argument… had said chicken robot not been made out of more durable metal, making that "running headfirst straight into a brick wall" effect, with Swift's skull pounding as he fell off the chicken, his forehead bleeding.

After the hedgehog Chao felt the blood dripping down his face, he looked up to see the metal chicken towering over him. It then opened its beak, and, oddly enough, there was a speaker in its mouth. _"Attention little blue Chao,"_ a man's voice bellowed out of the speaker.

"So wait," Swift asked, a question mark over his head, "this chicken's a rooster?"

"_No, you fool,"_ the man's voice explained. _"The Egg Crower, I'm just using its radio function to talk to you from a discreet location."_

"Lord Chaos," Swift stated with a swirl over his head. "You make this a lot more confusing than it probably has to be, don't you?"

"_Enough of that,"_ the man's voice scolded him. After the swirl disappeared, the man continued, _"In case you aren't exactly aware, hedgehog Chao, I'm Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the world's greatest mind. I'm not going to lie to you… it took me _three_ months to carefully work out that plan to take over Station Square that you foiled within _twohours_. Now, normally, anybody who would dare interfere with my work for any reason at all wouldn't exactly be living long enough to tell the tale. However, what you did in that last battle had peaked my interest. A normal Chao would've been dead by now, going head to head against my Egg Crower assassin bot. However, you seem to have mutated enough with super speed and decent amount of strength of stamina. And I know exactly what mutated you: an exposure to one of the seven Chaos Emeralds._

"_Now, like I've said before, I would probably kill you for meddling with my affairs, yesterday. However, I'm going to offer you an once-in-a-lifetime chance. Surrender yourself to me, join the Robotnik Empire, and hand over the Chaos Emerald that caused your mutation, and I will spare you and your friend that aided you yesterday. Hell, I'll even make you two commanding officers for the Armada. So, what do you say, hedgehog Chao?"_

Swift only blinked at that long speech. "Um… could you _paraphrase_ all of that? You lost me after 'I'm not going to lie to you.'"

There was a sigh on the other side of the speaker. Robotnik briefly answered, _"Okay, long story short, I know you have been given mutant powers by a Chaos Emerald, you destroyed my robots, and now I'm offering you a chance to join my empire by handing over the Emerald, and I'll spare your life. Do we have a deal?"_

"Oh," Swift realized. "Well, I have to take some things into consideration first… well, you tried to kill innocent people, started burning a city to the ground, stuck me with a kid whose butler is a black belt in martial arts and black mail, and now you're demanding that I just hand over the only thing I have to remember my mom bye without a fight? Not to mention that the messenger _you_ sent just _happened_ to choose _my chili dog _as a _nest_ to lay her egg on! It's times like this I wish that I had a middle finger. (A/N: Imaginary cookie to whoever finds the series that the previous sentence is said and imaginary _cake_ to whoever names who said it and when.) However, since I don't, I'll say this. I'm going to find you, and break the thing that you hold dear for that chili dog. But for now, I'm going to be shooting your messenger!" He then disappeared, and reappeared on top of the Egg Crower, where he started pounding on its head.

Robotnik chuckled, _"Very well. It's your funeral, hedgehog Chao. Egg Crower, please don't show any mercy."_ The Egg Crower's eyes started to glow a burning red.

"He's upset over a chili dog?" Frances asked while dodging a swipe from one Egg Pawn's lance and then kicking it in the stomach before thrusting an open palm into it, smashing its head clean off. She, Chris, and Tanaka were busy fighting off the remaining Egg Pawns while Danny, Helen, and Amy headed to hide behind benches- the three weren't as strong as their two martial arts trained friends and the deadly butler.

"I know," Chris replied with a slight scowl on his face as an Egg Pawn tried to shoot him with its blaster. He quickly crash tackled it into the wall, and then punched it repeatedly, smashing it's head in. "It's not something I'd risk my life over, but Swift has proven himself crazy several times before." Just then, a dark blue ball flew barely an inch over his skull, and slammed into one of the mall's indoor trees. (I don't know why they're even there, myself; it seems kind of odd to have plants in the mall.) Swift looked rather annoyed after looking at the fallen tree.

"Okay, that's it," the male hedgehog Chao growled while pulling out the Chaos Emerald from his new vest, and placing it near his cobalt bracelet. "Now, I'm pissed." With the extreme boost of Chaos energy, Swift felt like he could take on the world. The Egg Crower he was facing only walked towards him, planning on finishing this with one painful stomp. However, as the machine brought its large talons down, Swift vanished. He then reappeared on the upper levels of the mall. His sunglasses were placed over his eyes- I forgot to mention earlier that Swift had pocketed his sunglasses to prevent them from being broken.

Speaking of things I forgot to mention about Swift's sunglasses, it was the fact that as cool as they were, they weren't ordinary Chao sunglasses. They were tricked out by Miles various special optimizer upgrades. Swift's personal favorite was the "Battle Scanner," which changed his normally blue lenses jet black. While Swift's vision of everything around him except hostile targets and various objects faded into the darkness, he could focus straight at the thing that was the center of his attention- the Egg Crower, and its weak spot. That weak spot was located directly below its drilling beak… that odd red dangling thing that Swift was pretty sure wasn't the punching bag often found in the mouth. (A/N: If anybody can name this, please tell me, I'm curious.)

Swift grinned, "Gotcha." He then kicked off the railing he was standing on, curled into a ball, and screamed, "FOR THE CHILI DOG!"

"Oh for the love of God," Danny yelled at Swift from his hiding spot behind a bench, "it was only a chili dog, Swift!"

The Egg Crower, had it had actual emotions, would have been shocked that one Chao would get so worked up for a tube of pork byproducts covered in chili. However, that shock probably would have given away to annoyance as Swift slammed straight into its weakness. This Chao had just become one stubborn fly that was doing what flies do best- annoying the hell out of it.

Swift casually landed on a different bench- the one Helen and Amy were hiding behind- and looked up, expecting the Egg Crower to fall. However, it just looked slightly angry with him. "…Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time," he honestly admitted. Now, the beak of the behemoth started to spin around, and started to head straight towards Swift, Helen, and Amy. The three moved, but not fast enough. The Egg Crower brought the beak down on the bench hard, knocking Swift airborne and making him drop the Chaos Emerald, and Helen and Amy to the ground, out of Helen's wheelchair.

Chris saw this happen in shock. "HELEN!" he gasped, looking at what happened to his best friend. She looked dazed as she sat up, and Amy rubbed her head with a swirl over said head.

"Lord Chaos, that drill hurt," Amy moaned in pain as Swift crashed into the ground behind the giant robot chicken. The Egg Crower didn't seem to notice the blue hedgehog Chao. Right now, it was searching for a new target. It didn't take long to find one, though, practically right in its line of sight: the downed Helen Rose.

"Hey," Swift growled, trying to sound tough, but wasn't in the best shape. He had quite a few cuts and bruises all over his body from his previous attempts to attack the Egg Crower. If it wasn't for the Chaos Emerald, he would have been worse off, even with his fast healing. "I… didn't hear a bell."

The Egg Crower paid no attention to Swift; it was focused more on the prey that _couldn't_ run away, even if she actually was in her wheelchair. Chris took note of this. "Hey!" he yelled at the Egg Crower while rushing towards it, trying to get the machine's attention. "Get the hell away from her!"

The Egg Crower looked at Chris, drew back one of its wings, and swatted him away as he leapt towards it, sending him crashing into the wall near the beaten Swift. Tanaka, who had just used a katana he borrowed from a nearby arms shop to scrap the last of the Egg Pawns, instantly gasped, dropping the oily katana.

"Master Chris!" he yelled. "Are you okay!?"

Helen looked over to Chris, who had his face dripping in blood. "Oh my god… Chris, you're bleeding!"

"I'll… be fine," Chris replied to them both, getting up. His forehead was cut open, and he hit his back pretty hard, but that wasn't going to stop him from protecting his friend. In fact, anything short of his death wasn't going to stop him from saving Helen. He then ordered to Tanaka, "Don't worry about me, though! Mr. Tanaka, get Helen and Amy out of there!"

"Y-yes sir," Tanaka agreed, picking the katana back up. As much as Tanaka would rather be getting Chris out of the mall and checked up, the boy's orders came first. Chris would be concerned with his friends rather than his own personal safety. He would never forgive Tanaka for dragging him out of there before at least attempting to save Helen. Tanaka rushed towards Helen and Amy, hoping to be able to pick them up and get away before the robot attacked. Unfortunately, he didn't get far before the Egg Crower caught sight of Tanaka heading towards its prey. Defending its claim, the robot smacked Tanaka away with its long, metal neck. Tanaka crashed into one of the remaining tables in the food court, spilling mustard and soda all over his good suit. He got back up, only to find himself facing more Egg Pawns. With this, as well as his bruised ribs slowing him down, there would be no way he could complete his master's orders.

Chris and Swift looked back at the Egg Crower just in time to see Helen being picked up by the robot with its beak. "Helen!" Amy gasped at the terrible sight, an exclamation mark over her head. Helen was dangling in its beak by the back of her dress, helpless like a worm.

"…Damn it!" Swift growled while taking the sunglasses out of Battle Scanner mode and placing them on top of his head. "That girl shouldn't have been there! Why did this have to happen!?"

"You got careless, that's why!" Chris answered, obviously angry with both Swift and the Egg Crower. "Had you not gotten angry over a piece of food that I can easily buy you later and pissed that robot off, Helen probably wouldn't be in the bind she is in! Now, we have to get that… that _thing_ to let her go!" Swift looked up at his new friend. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he realized that taking it on solo wasn't smart. As much as it hurt his pride, Swift had to admit that Chris was right. He let a chili dog get in the way of his focus, and he accidentally brought two innocent girls into his battle when he could- and probably should- have escaped to regroup with Miles. If he didn't do something to help her, now, Helen was going to die. Problem was, that none of his attacks even made a _scratch_ on the Egg Crower's armor. All he did was annoy the thing into attacking Helen and Amy. Not to mention Chris and Tanaka also got hurt. He owed them, somehow, but he was in no way able to take down the Egg Crower, and neither was Chris.

But that wasn't what drew his attention- it was Chris' seriously determined expression. He didn't even _need_ to activate his Chaos Sense to see it… Chris had Chaos energy pouring out of his body. In fact, enough to be about his level… maybe they _could_ take the robot. The possibilities were risky, but right now, totally worth it.

"…Chris," Swift calmly began. "I'm totally sorry I got your friends involved in my fight." Chris started to calm down, himself. "Now, you're right. I got carried away and let something so ridiculous get to me, and your friend Helen is paying the price. However, let's face the obvious… nobody, human or Chao, can take the monster head on. All I did was make it mad, and you and Tanaka got swatted away like insects. So… do you still have that Chaos Morpher Miles gave you, earlier? If so, place it around your wrist."

Chris pulled out the device, looking straight at it. "What about it?" Chris asked, placing it around his wrist.

"Before I tell you what we're going to do," Swift warned, "you need to know the possible consequences of this. This thing works, and you're going to probably be branded a freak or outcast for the rest of your life. If this thing's a bust, Helen may not be the only person to die, today. We may end up blowing ourselves up, turning into some kind of monster, hell, the thing may not even work like Miles said it would. …But you seem determined to save her and your friends no matter what happens, don't you? "

"If something happens to me," Chris answered, "who cares? As long as they're safe, I don't give a darn that happens to me." Swift only grinned as he pressed a button on the side of the Morpher, and the center of the device started to glow.

"All we need to do," Swift answered, "is press the center button, and it should start on its own." Chris casually pressed the center of the Chaos Morpher, and he felt the energy inside of him surge.

Chris had only one thing to say as the transformation took place. **"Chaos Soul, Activate!"** The next thing he knew, his body started to alter itself while Swift's body turned into a light blue flame that soon surrounded Chris. His hair started to grow longer and spike out, his skin turned dark blue, his eyes closed in slight pain as two spikes grew out of his back, as well as a short tail. When they opened again, they were a burning emerald green.

Not that this was seen by the others, who were more focused on the giant robot that was deciding whether or not to eat Helen. "Hey," Frances yelled up to the Egg Crower, "put Helen down before I find a way to break you!" To emphasize this point, Amy helped by banging a hammer that she just found lying around and smacking it on the robot's toes. This all did nothing more than bug the Egg Crower. God these humans were so demanding over one of their own.

The Egg Crower decided to put the girl dangling from her beak down… however, the human girl that demanded this didn't exactly say where. So, since this was the case, it decided to casually toss her up in the air, and then have her land straight into its beak. So, the next thing Helen knew, she suddenly went airborne by an upwards toss. She could barely register that the Egg Crower had sent her skywards, and looking down, she found that her desired landing spot was in the gullet of the metal monster, the beak wide open to catch her in. This being her final moments, Helen screamed.

However, something that, at the time, would be unexplainable happened. A large blue blur jumped just a mere three feet above the Egg Crower's waiting beak, and caught Helen bridal style out of the air before safely landing on the floor of the mall. Helen felt the jolt, thinking that the machine ate her. However, when she felt that there wasn't any blood over her body and her heart was still beating, she was confused. But what gave it away the most was Amy's shocked voice questioning, "Who in Lord Chaos' name is that with Helen!?"

This drove Helen to open her eyes, and look to see a male, dark blue being that looked half human, half hedgehog with burning emerald green eyes, a tan muzzle and arms, a small, long black nose, long spiked quills that looked like hair, and a calming smile on his face. Helen was surprised to see this- she had once read about Mobians, a race of evolved animals that spoke, thought, and seemed like humans, but for all she knew, they died out countless millennia ago. However, his clothing seemed to fit the modern day style. He was wearing a white medium sleeved shirt, a pair of red elbow pads with yellow stars in the middle of them, a pair of fingerless white gloves, dark blue slim fit jeans, a pair of red running shoes with white stripes in the middle, and a pair of blue sunglasses perched over his head. There was also a red and white vest over his shirt, a cobalt blue bracelet on his right wrist, and a light blue watch on his left. There was an odd insignia on his shirt that looked like a pure blue version of his face staring straight at her.

The first thing the creature asked her was, "Are you okay?" Helen thought his voice sounded somewhat familiar. The voice, although slightly deeper than his, sounded slightly similar to that of Chris.

"Y-yeah," Helen honestly answered. "I thought I was going to die there for a minute. Thank you for the help." Looking around, she asked, "Where did Chris and Swift go?"

Unbeknownst to anybody but the creature, the creature actually _was_ Christopher Thorndyke and Swift. The Chaos Morpher bonded Swift's soul into Chris' body, transforming the boy into a human-animal crossbreed that looked as human as Swift could possibly get. However, was the creature going to tell her that? No, Helen was scared enough, so there was no way she could possibly right now take that kind of news without possibly having a heart attack or something. "…The boy Chris regrettably asked me to help you out," the creature finally answered. "I made sure he and the Chao were fine. They seemed strong, but they weren't strong enough to stop that thing."

Helen just smiled, "Well, when you see them, tell them I said, 'Thanks for trying!'" The creature had to turn away from her smile to hide a blush on his muzzle.

'_**Aw,'**_ Swift's voice rang in the hedgehog's head. _**'So **_**that's**_** why you wanted to save her, Chris! Do I sense puppy love?'**_

'_Swift!?'_ Chris' voice asked, shocked that the Chao was still there. _'W-what the hell are you doing in my head!?'_

'_**It seems that this new form requires us to share a mind,'**_ Swift replied. _**'So therefore, no secrets can be kept with either of us. Like the fact that you're holding the girl of your dreams in her arms….'**_

'_H-hey,'_ Chris mentally scowled at the Chao, _'that's personal, Swift!'_

'_Not anymore, it isn't,'_ the hedgehog Chao shot back. Getting serious, Swift explained, _**'While we do share a mind, my powers and apparently some of my looks have been transferred over your human body, kind of like a barrier.'**_Chris had to look at himself- he looked kind of like a genetics experiment to crossbreed man and animal, only with the fur dyed ocean blue. _**'However, you're not immortal, so don't do anything reckless like I was. Besides, we still have to deal with that thing.'**_

Speaking of "that thing," the Egg Crower wasn't too keen on the fact that somebody just stole its lunch. And that somebody was a mutated hedgehog the size of a human teenager. It activated its drill beak, and prepared to crush the hedgehog. However the hedgehog moved like lightning, disappearing out of its attack range with ease with Helen in tow. He casually placed her in her wheelchair, handed her Amy, and rushed her over to Danny and Frances.

"Watch over them, okay?" the creature asked the two. Both of them rather awkwardly nodded- well, it wasn't everyday that a Mobian was talking to them in perfect English, had super speed, and just saved their friend's life. The Mobian turned towards the Egg Crower, and rushed towards it.

Now, considering it had already beaten several others that dared try to stop it, the Egg Crower drew back its wings, preparing for a strike. However, the hedgehog moved faster than the Chao ever could, duking out of the way at the last second. _**'This is pretty sweet,'**_Swift thought to Chris. _**'Most humans would either be freaked out that they look like this or puke at these speeds, but you seem fine. Why's that?'**_

'_Oh, I am,'_ Chris thought back to Swift, not taking his eyes off of the angry machine as he ran up its leg. _'We can hear each other's thoughts, I have all of your powers, and I look like a fashionable circus freak.'_ (A/N: Chris' insult here is in the spur of the moment. He doesn't really mean that, so don't be offended if you are part of a circus or a carnival… whatever. Long story short, please don't kill me!)_ 'Who wouldn't be freaked out!?'_

'_**Then why **_**are**_** you so calm?'**_ Swift asked as Chris curled into a ball and started to spin up towards the weak spot that he analyzed before.

'_Right now,'_ Chris answered, _'my friends are more important.'_ With that, he plowed straight through the dangling thing from the Egg Crower's neck straight through its head, splattering oil everywhere before landing on the ground. _'Ugh, gross,'_ Chris sighed while looking at himself, covered in oil. He ran his hand across his shirt, accidentally pulling off the insignia. It looked and felt like it was made of computer paper- a calling card. When Sonic looked at his shirt, again, the insignia was still there. Odd. Focusing on the oil, Chris thought, _'Hope I can get the stains out.'_

'_Now you know how I felt, yesterday,'_ Swift chuckled.

"You did it!" Amy smiled at the hedgehog rushing over to him and cuddling his leg, a heart over her head. "I don't know who you are, but you're a real hero!"

"Um, thanks," the hedgehog creature nervously replied, rubbing Amy on her head. "But I don't think we're safe, yet?"

"Why's that?" Danny asked him while they all came over, with Tanaka eying the hedgehog awkwardly.

"You guys know that thing where a chicken gets its head chopped off?"

"…Oh," Frances realized. Sure enough, the Egg Crower, now pretty much decapitated, was running around in circles, searching for its severed head, spewing oil just about anywhere. After about thirty seconds of this, the Egg Crower fell, destroyed. "Well, we're safe now."

"So," Tanaka scowled at the creature, "what exactly is your name, Mr. Hero?" The hedgehog looked like he was ready to answer, but there was a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him otherwise.

'_**They'd kind of be freaked out to know that their new hero is their friend,'**_ Swift pointed out. _'__**So, we need a name people wouldn't forget, but isn't exactly ours. Kind of like "The Dark Knight", or "Man of Steel", or "Ghost Boy!"'**_

'_One, have you been reading comics? And two, you _do_ know that Mr. Tanaka will find out, later, right?'_ Chris rhetorically asked, doodling a message with the oil that had gotten on his fingers.

'_**Yeah,'**_ Swift answered, _'__**but you made him a calling card, before we even moved. Besides, we need a name for this body, anyways. Got anything in mind?'**_ It took what seemed like minutes, but the two agreed on one name. That, and a nearby restaraunt kind of helped with a name that meant fast.

"Call me Sonic," the creature finally answered. "My name is… Sonic the Hedgehog." Just then, the police started to rush into the mall, their guns trained on the hedgehog. The police seemed to be shocked that they were aiming at a creature that resembled a Mobian, but quickly shook it off.

"Attention blue vigilante," one of the officers told him via a bullhorn. "By the order of Station Square Police Department's Commissioner Watson, you are hereby under arrest. Place any and all weapons you have on you down, put your hands above your head, and step away from the civilians, right now."

"Hey," Danny yelled at them, "he just saved our lives, here! Had he not shown up, we all could be dead!"

"We weren't talking to you, kid," the same officer shot back. "We're talking to the mutant hedgehog!"

'_**Time for a quick exit,'**_Swift thought to Chris. _'__**Think we can outrun the cops in this form?'**_

'_Well,'_ Chris answered, _'I wouldn't think that it would be a good idea… well, if it wasn't for the fact that we need to leave, anyways. Besides, it _would_ keep my friends out of trouble….'_ So, the being now known as Sonic casually crouched down into a running stance, and dashed straight for the Chaos Emerald just lying on the ground, and moved behind Tanaka to straight in front of the police. The police didn't know what to think of this until Sonic dashed straight past them, and used the wind that he created as he ran to knock them all over. After they got up, they ignored the group of kids and butler, and started to chase after Sonic.

Frances could only say two words at that. "Holy crap." Tanaka then felt something in his pocket, and pulled it out. It looked like the insignia on the hedgehog's shirt, only it was made of paper, and had writing on it in oil.

The calling card read: _**Tell nobody about this, Mr. Tanaka. Take the guys home, and I'll see you later. Chris and Swift.**_ Tanaka was shocked that whatever that hedgehog creature was, part of it was Chris, while the other was Swift. What he wanted to know was how on God's blue and green Earth did those two transformed into one super powered mutant hedgehog. Then, he remembered the piece of technology that a certain fox Chao was messing with before he went to bed.

"Miles," Tanaka simply told himself. _'That Chao has some explaining to do….'_

---

**Station Square Speed Highway- 13:58**

It took some doing and one heck of a police chase, but Sonic outran the cops. I'd go into detail, but let's face facts, they are ordinary people in dark blue/black uniforms driving specialized cars while Sonic is a Mobian hedgehog (or what looks like a Mobian) that has superhuman speed and incredible leg strength that allows him to run at least two-hundred miles an hour. It wasn't too hard to escape them and get to the unfinished Speed Highway. Now, here he was on the highway that was blocked off due to the fact that it was incomplete, looking at himself in the reflection that the Chaos Emerald was giving off. He left Tanaka a calling card that seemed to be made out of the insignia on his chest. All he had to do was run his hand across it, and a replica of the insignia came off as a piece of paper, but it would appear again on his chest. But that wasn't what mattered, right now. Helen, Danny, Frances, and Tanaka… they were all safe.

'_I'm not going to be stuck like this forever, am I?'_ Chris asked while looking at himself in the reflection of the Emerald.

'_**We should be able to return to normal somehow,'**_ Swift answered, not really seeming to care.

Sonic held up the wrist that had the Chaos Morpher on it. The bad news is that he had no way of telling time on it, considering Miles never built a clock inside of it. The good news is that judging by the buttons, all he had to do manually deactivate the Chaos Morpher was press the button in the center. However, according to the battery life- which shocked Chris to know that the Chaos Morpher even _had_ a battery life- there was approximately a half hour left of morph time.

'_Looks like we can only be Sonic for only an hour',_ Chris pointed out.

'_**I wouldn't be too sure of that,'**_ Swift disagreed. _**'Miles said that the Morpher needed Chaos energy to charge itself. If he's right, then exposing it to the Emerald again should give us a boost in energy.'**_

Sonic casually pressed the Chaos Emerald to his left wrist, and the Morpher started to recharge itself. _'Hey, it's recharging!'_

'_**Of course it is,'**_ Swift smirked. _**'The Morpher feeds on Chaos Energy. Tap it with an Emerald, and instant juice for us.'**_ Sonic calmly returned the Emerald into his pocket before turning towards the outskirts of Station Square.

Sonic started to run down the highway streets, hoping to get back to the manor without any more trouble. However, the next thing he knew, two formula-one police issued pursuit cars pulled out right in front of him, blocking his path. So, the hedgehog did the natural thing of turning around, only to be faced with two more formula-one pursuit cars. The four cars were orange, yellow, green, and violet in color. Members of Station Square's high-speed pursuit SWAT Division Speed Team. The only missing car was the red one. Chris then remembered his uncle's words- he challenged the "blue vigilante" to a race on Station Square's Speed Highway at two in the afternoon. Well, that answered what time it was.

"So, you made it," Sam's voice began as his car pulled out from behind a nearby sign, and he got out of said car. Sonic eyed the man suspiciously as Sam came over. Sam looked Sonic up and down, and grinned. "You're bigger than what the media said you'd be… and you look familiar… but enough of that. You're right on time, Mr. Vigilante. I take it you've heard of me, right?"

'_**Chris,'**_ Swift asked, _**'who is this guy?'**_

'_My uncle,'_ Chris answered. _'He's pretty famous, but he'll probably brag about it anyways, so….'_

Sonic decided to play along, and ask, "Who are you, anyways?"

"Figures somebody that looks one of those Mobians I've heard about wouldn't know," Sam only shook his head. "I'm Sam Speed, founder and leader of the world famous Speed Team. There isn't a soul alive that can go faster than me. But that's beside the point. I've gotten word that you've been involved in two separate incidents against Dr. Robotnik. As cool as this is, we here in Station Square _do_ have a legal system and non-law operatives are advised to stay out of the way. So, the Commissioner wants me to bring you in. However, not only did you peak my interest with your use of speed to destroy Robotnik's robots, it's against my nature to not give anybody I go after a fighting chance, so here's how we do this." Pointing the opposite way he was facing, Sam explained, "We're going to go down this incomplete highway all the way near the end. Should I beat you there, then you have to surrender yourself to the police, no questions asked. However, if- and that's a big 'if,' by the way- you somehow beat me and my boys… then we let you walk."

"_Please, Sam,"_ the man in the orange car scoffed over his radio. _"Sure, that hedgehog may be faster than the average human, but going against us? He won't even get beyond me, let alone, you! We may as well save this rodent the embarrassment and book him, now!"_ Chris' mental ears twitched at that voice- Hector Drags, the second fastest member of the Speed Team, and an overall "ego-maniac" that actually made Sam look humble. He keeps gloating that he'll beat Sam in a race one day, but so far, that day hasn't come.

"Hector, please," Sam casually ordered. "You know me, I never say 'no' to a possible race." Turning to Sonic, he asked, "So, what do you say? Racing may be the only way off of this highway outside of a police car, for you."

Sonic looked at the cars around him, and the ones in front of him. They were blocking his path, and he needed plenty of momentum to even jump far enough to get away from them. So, outrunning them was his only option. He had to face down Sam in a race to escape the highway. So, he answered, "Let's do this!" Sam grinned.

"See you in the winner's circle," Sam told him as he got back in, and Sonic and the cars took up their starting positions. _"We do this on my three."_ Sonic crouched down, waiting for the magic number. _"One… two… three!"_ Sam's car roared to life, and flew down the road. Sonic flew out straight after him, followed by the other members of the Speed Team. The race was on.

---

**Human Card:** Samuel Speed

**Occupation:** Police SWAT Division, Leader of Speed Team

**Known Relatives:** Christopher Thorndyke (nephew), Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke (sister), Nelson Thorndyke (brother in-law)

**Hobbies:** Racing, Blackjack, peacekeeper, competing against Sonic

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Before anybody complains as to how short this part is to the others, hear me out. This part was originally (by Word document count) twenty-three pages long. It could have been longer had I not deleted the original exchange between Miles and Ella at the beginning of Part 2. That, and Part 3 is on its way with the entire first race between Sonic and Sam, and some other dialogue about the Morpher. I just regret being forced to split it all in a crude half.

**White Hunter:** Swift's a wild Chao. Wild Chao, being somewhat scavengers, don't like it when people get rid of their food. And I believed I answered why Swift can't buy another by crushing his hopes... literally. God, I'm evil!

**Zohaku:** I hope it was everything you wished for. Sorry I had to chop it in half.

**Salamander Hanzo:** You added one more word this time, AND you probably had your caps key on! Thanks! ...Okay, I'm sorry for the dry humor, and I don't mean to offend anybody.

**SPark681:** Well, here's Sonic... you know, that was pretty corny of me. Really, I've had over a week to finish this, but with my senior year of high school starting up, this is all I could think of.

Okay, well, I'll guess I'll finish this up later on. If I don't get this taken care of by the end of today, have a great Labor Day, everybody. Kingdom Rider92 out!


	6. Episode 2, Part 3

A/N: You know what I hate? I had to let my typing get the better of me. Now, here I am with three parts rather than two parts. I'm sorry for the wait.

---

**Equipment Card:** Chaos Energy Powered Human-Chao Spiritual Unity Morpher (a.k.a. Chaos Morpher)

**Inventor:** Miles/Unknown Scientist

**Purpose:** To recreate the now extinct Mobian species in present day

**Notes:** "I have discovered a rather peculiar fact from my last failed attempt with the Morpher. In order for a successful fusion of Chao and man, both beings must have a similar quantity of Chaos Energy. Mobians were said to be more durable than humans… I just need to find the right man to test the Morpher to see if this is true."

---

**Thorndyke Manor: 13:59**

Miles hated it when Swift left without warning.

When the Chao woke up around a half hour ago, he expected to find Swift just lying around the house, bored and cuddling his precious Chaos Emerald. That way, he could get the Morpher, find somebody to test it out on, and see if those notes were worth the trouble they went through. But instead, he finds that Swift is gone, the Morpher is gone, the Emerald is gone, and Chris is gone.

Now, here he was practically flying around the house searching for them, being sure not to frustrate Ella like Swift did last night. However, Ella noticed Miles' running about the house- how couldn't she, he's a fox Chao that has two tails and could fly. Ella asked, "What's wrong, Miles?"

Upon hearing her, Miles stopped flying to look at the maid. "Well… have you seen Swift? I have the feeling he ran off."

"Oh, that's an easy one," Ella giggled. "He went with Master Chris and Tanaka to the mall. They should be back, soon enough."

Miles blinked. The mall? Isn't that some kind of shopping center in a town? Ah, well, as long as Swift doesn't bail on Chris and Tanaka, it wasn't important. Speaking of Tanaka, the butler practically kicked the door down, his face covered in sweat, and he was barely holding himself up.

"Whoa, Mr. Tanaka," Miles gasped, "you look pale."

"Forget about me," he told the fox Chao. "Turn on the television, and you and I have to talk, Miles!" Ella turned on the television, and the three could only stare at the television. A helicopter was covering a sudden report that the incomplete Station Square Speed Highway was being used as a race track by the Speed Team and what appeared to be a Mobian hedgehog.

Ella asked in Spanish, "¿Qué diablos es esa cosa?" Miles, in his two years of living in Maya, had picked up on a bit of Spanish. Not a lot, but enough to know that Ella just asked, "What the hell is that thing?" But all you really had to do these days to learn how to swear in another language was pick up an unabridged World Language-to-English Dictionary, look up your favorite words, and know how to properly put them in a sentence.

Anyways, Miles took a good look at the creature that was keeping up with the formula-one racecars, and he noticed something. His gear- the sunglasses, the cobalt bracelet, and the fancy wristwatch- they all looked like Swift's gear. However, he could tell that the watch was the Chaos Morpher. That could only mean one thing.

"Oh Chaos," Miles breathed, "the Morpher actually worked."

"Ella," Tanaka calmly breathed, "please call Master Charles."

---

**Speed Highway- 14:05**

As Sonic rushed down the highway trying to catch up to Sam, Swift whooped, _**'Alright! This is going to be awesome!'**_

'_Don't get too excited,'_ Chris warned. _'The Speed Team is known to have some of the most outrageous gadgets at their disposal. This is going to be tough.'_

And tough it was. Hector Drags pulled up next to Sonic, and pressed a button. After that, a retractable, metal boxing glove popped out of the side, and rushed straight for Sonic's face. The hedgehog had to fall back to avoid a bloody nose, a black eye, or missing teeth. Hector took second place after Sonic dropped back. _"Feel like giving up, yet, runt!?"_

'_**Lord Chaos, that guy pisses me off!'**_ Swift steamed. _**'Let's smoke him, Chris!'**_

'_I think we have bigger problems at the moment!'_ Chris yelled as the yellow and green cars got beside him. The yellow car's side looked razor sharp, capable of cutting through normal metal plating, which was way harder than bone. The green car, though, had protection against this in the form of extremely spiked armor that looked freshly deployed. And right behind, the front of the violet car had large, deadly spikes on the front bumper of it. All three cars looked ready to ram the hedgehog.

'_**Well, then,'**_ Swift grinned, _**'let's kick it up a notch. Focus on the Chaos Energy in your body… let it flow freely through your veins.'**_ Sonic closed his eyes, and took a few relaxing breaths. As he did this, the Chaos Energy started to build up inside of him. It made him feel faster, stronger, more at peace. The energy seemed to flow out of his body in the form of a dozen brilliant lights surrounding him in a protective aura. _**'Now release it all in a blinding Sonic Boost to outrun these suckers!'**_

Sonic then shot his eyes open, and roared with the rage of a gladiator as he suddenly sped ahead just seconds before the two cars on the side made their moves, letting them crash into each other. The man in the violet car in last was so shocked at this sudden move, he didn't have time to even stop as the front of his car smashed dead straight into the back of the two.

"_HOLY CRAP!"_ Sam yelled to Hector over his radio, seeing the carnage from miles ahead. _"You shouldn't have made him mad, Hector! That hedgehog just took out _three_ of our guys, and he's heading straight for you at speeds only _I've_ managed!"_ Hector just laughed at this.

"_Don't worry, Sam,"_ Hector grinned. _"He's going to have to watch his feet."_ One of the oldest tricks in old race cartoons is the stereotypical oil slick trap. Well, Hector had it installed on his car in case of emergencies like this. Not only did it slow down just about anything that ran straight over it, but at the speed the hedgehog was suddenly moving at, there were sparks practically coming off of his feet from the friction of the rubber soles on his shoes. The result of the hedgehog getting too close would light him up hotter than grandma's apple pie fresh out of the oven with a nice, hot mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows after Christmas dinner. Sweet revenge for what he did to the other three, but with less pie and cocoa. _"One cooked hedgehog coming right up!"_ Hector yelled as he pressed the button, spewing oil all over the highway. He even swerved left and right to get it everywhere. No way could the hedgehog dodge that unless he could just jump onto Hector's car.

Sonic noticed all of this, and gasped. _'Swift,'_ Chris asked, _'how far can I jump with your powers!?_

'_**Even with the intense speed boost that the Chaos Energy gave you,'**_ Swift nervously answered,_** I wouldn't say far enough over the oil. Luckily, the Battle Scanner that Miles has equipped to my shades has a homing feature.'**_ Sonic placed the sunglasses over his eyes, and flipped through all of the settings on the sunglasses with Swift's instruction. When he got to the Battle Scanner, he was surprised to see that there was indeed a feature that allowed him to lock-onto Hector's car. _**'Jump into the air, curl into a ball, and thrust yourself at his car with a forward spin while using the Battle Scanner mode. I'll do the rest.'**_

Just as he was about to touch the oil, Sonic jumped over it. The sparks caused by his speed did start a fire as he went spinning towards the back of Hector's car. Hector only saw the explosion. _"See, Sam?"_ Hector told the leader of the Speed Team. _"He took himself out! That hedgehog was an idiot! Damn shame, though; I was looking forward to seeing him run circles in a prison cell!"_

"_Um, Hector,"_ Sam casually warned._ "You may wanna-"_

"_Well, that wraps up that vigilante,"_ Hector continued, not even listening to Sam's warning. _"What do you say after the fire's dealt with, we grab the boys, get them patched up, and head out for steaks tonight? My treat!"_

"_Hector, you should-"_

"_You know, seeing the rodent burn like that makes me wants my steak well done! How do you want yours, Sam? Or perhaps you want to keep on that seafood diet? I'll get you a nice fried grilled salmon!"_

"_Damn it, man,"_ Sam snapped, _"the hedgehog is on the back of your car!"_ Hector looked up from his self-congratulation and dinner plans to look in his rear-view mirror. Sonic was crawling to the front of his car, a fist drawn back with a calling card in hand.

"_What the!?"_Hector gasped, confused. Sonic just smashed a fist through the glass of the cockpit, shocking Hector even more. Sonic didn't stop there, as he placed a calling card onto Hector's chest. _"How the hell are you alive!?"_ He then found the button he wanted- the eject button.

"With a Homing Attack," Sonic answered as Hector stared, helpless to stop the hedgehog, "it wasn't as tough as your landing's going to be." He then pressed it, pulling his arm back in time before the show happened. Sonic barely had time to duck as the cockpit's glass shield popped off, and Hector flew out of it attached to his chair, practically screaming at the fact that he was being thrown out of his own car against his will at such speed. He waited for the parachute to deploy from Hector's chair before jumping off of the car and hitting the ground running, easily getting far beyond the car. The car, no longer having a driver, didn't take long after the whole affair to go out of control and crash straight into a wall, erupting in flames.

Sonic had to grin as his only opponent left was Sam. Speeds like the ones the two were going would be impossible to go for normal humans. However, Sam had a supped up formula-one racecar given to him by the police, as well as the training undercover cop street racing and working in NASCAR gave him. Sonic, on the other hand, had a mutant Chao controlling his superhuman speed and strength, and a steady supply of Chaos Energy. This would have left them even, had Sonic actually had more Chaos energy. The two bursts from earlier, using the Sonic Boost to outrun the three cars before they tore him apart and the Jump Dash Homing Attack to attach to Hector's car and avoid being burned alive, had saved his life, but they unknowingly drained a good amount of the Morpher's battery. He only had five more minutes of morph time before who knows what happened. That, and the two racers were getting very close to the designated finish line.

'_I'm feeling pretty drained,'_ Chris told Swift. Swift had to eye the Morpher for Chris so he could focus on the race. The light of the Morpher was growing dimmer by the second, hence Chris' exhaustion. They couldn't stay as Sonic for much longer.

'_**We've been using too much energy with those goons,'**__ Swift answered. __**'I guess when I do that stuff solo, it doesn't harm me as much, but the Morpher's different. It drains our battery faster. We use something like that again, and we're as good as sunk.'**_

'_Then we have to stop and recharge the battery,'_ Chris stated.

'_**We can't stop now,'**_ Swift disagreed, focusing on the race. _**'If we drop back now, we won't catch up to that guy in front in time. And I don't know about you, but orange jumpsuits aren't exactly my thing.'**_

'_Well,'_ Chris asked, _'what do you suggest we do? We use your powers again at this state, and we may end up breaking our necks _and_ losing!'_

'_**I'm thinking, I'm thinking…'**_ Swift answered. _**'…I've got it! Get us as close as you can, and concentrate the last bits of Chaos Energy you have left in the Morpher. We're going into overdrive!'**_

Sonic started to sprint harder than he did with the last four cars, rushing straight for Sam's car. Sam yelled over his radio, _"I'm really impressed you've made it this far, hedgehog! Most guys are usually smoked by now! However, I'm even _more_ impressed that you took out my other four buddies by yourself! Perhaps instead of being a vigilante, you can join the Speed Team as the Blue Racer! Provided if I don't arrest you, of course."_

"So, you're okay that I just beat up those other guys?" Sonic asked as he started to catch up.

"_Actually,"_ Sam admitted, _"I'm mixed feelings about them. The other three seemed to have good ideas at the time when you took all three of them at once in the most painful fashion imaginable. However, Hector's been getting cocky, lately, and he probably _needed_ that trip you gave him. So… do you have a name, or should I call you Mr. Vigilante, still?"_

The hedgehog thought about it. Does he actually want to go with that new name? Well, it was cool enough, and there wasn't anything else. "…Call me Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sam casually grinned at the name. _"Sonic, eh? Pretty cool. I have a feeling we're going to be rivals for a long time. But right now, our race is reaching its climax. We have only twenty more miles left to go!"_

Sonic realized it then- it was now or never that he used the last Sonic Boost. Eighteen miles. Sonic calmly started breathing again, ignoring the searing pain that was starting to strike the muscles in his legs. Fifteen miles He kept telling himself to ignore it, but they wouldn't listen. Fourteen miles. So, Sonic told himself that he didn't take years of martial arts and join the track team back in middle school to have his legs give now. Only ten miles left. When they didn't listen, he warned them that if they didn't help, now, then they wouldn't be able to move again in jail. His legs reluctantly let him keep using them, allowing him to gather more Chaos Energy. Four and a half miles. The energy flowed right out of his pores, manifesting itself as the mystical lights floating around.

'_**Let's do this!'**_ Swift whooped as Sonic unleashed the energy in one final burst. Sam watched in what seemed like slow motion as Sonic surpassed his car in that final push, easily dashing past him and the car. Sam only looked down for a second to check his speedometer- it read about two-hundred fifty miles per hour. If he had to take a guess, Sam would say that the hedgehog was moving about three hundred miles per hour. Now _that_ was fast, even for Sam.

True to his word, Sam stopped chasing the hedgehog by actually pressing the brakes, and watched him run. He then looked back at the still visible carnage that was four wrecked cars and about three injuries. Well, Station Square's Speed Highway was going to be closed for a few more months. Looking at where Sonic went, he grinned. "Looks like I've finally found some competition in this life, after all."

Back with Sonic, he was grinning as he looked back. Sam was true to his word, and let him escape without pursuit. _'All right,'_ Chris stated, _'now that we've outran my uncle, let's get back to the manor.'_

'_**Not to be a party pooper,'**_ Swift pointed out, _**'but you **_**do**_** realize the battery has about thirty seconds worth of life left, and we're getting dangerously close to the unfinished portion of the highway, right?'**_

'_What?'_ Chris asked Swift in confusion, looking at the Morpher. Only twenty-two seconds left. However, that's not what scared Swift.

'_**Look forward.'**_ Sonic obeyed, and was shocked to see that they were nearing the end, and had no way of slowing down.

'_Oh, son of a-!'_

---

**Thorndyke Manor- 14:21**

"_You saw it here, folks,"_ the reporter, a dark brown haired woman with green eyes and an intrigued look on her face, stated as she watched Sonic rush off the bridge from the safety of her helicopter. _"This mysterious blue vigilante has not only saved our city twice, but he has single-handedly outrun the entire Speed Team, totaling four of their cars. I plan to get a report from Sam Speed later on. As for the hedgehog, he appears to have escaped by running off the bridge. With leg strength like that, I hope he survived that fall. This is Scarlet Garcia, Station Square News."_

The four people watching it- I say four because Chuck is now there- just sat there, completely shocked. Then, the three humans turned to Miles. The Chao, confused with the sudden attention, had a question mark over his head. "Is there something on my face?"

"No," Tanaka answered, "there _is_ something I want to ask you, about." He then pulled out the oily calling card that Sonic gave him at the mall. "Do you know anything about this, Miles?"

The fox Chao's question mark disappeared. "So," Miles breathed, "my eyes _weren't_ playing tricks on me. The Chaos Morpher works."

"Chaos Morpher?" Chuck asked Miles. "What is that?"

"You know that watch I had last night?" Miles began. All three people nodded. "Well, that watch was really the remade invention based off of the notes of a scientist that were left in Maya. According to the invention, by the exposure of Chaos energy, the Chaos Morpher could bond the soul of a Chao to the body of a human, creating a super human or something. However, since we Chao are the only remnants of the Mobian species on the planet left, it would most likely recreate the Mobian species."

"So," Chuck summarized, "you built a watch that was based off of notes probably ahead of their time that could create something among the lines of Neo Mobians?"

"Neo Mobians?" Miles asked. "Well, that name does sound better for the topic… anyways, yes. I thought it wasn't going to work, but the writer knew what they were talking about."

"And Master Chris is now a super powered hedgehog for the rest of his life?" Tanaka scowled at him. Miles looked rather nervous at the dark stare he was getting from the butler. "Choose your next words carefully, Miles… they may be your last."

"…Look, the Morpher's a prototype, so I could fix this. Chris isn't going to be a hedgehog permanently. Just until the battery dies." That seemed to do little to quell Tanaka's newfound rage. But what did was that they heard a noise that was the equivalent to the sound of a cannonball crashing into water coming from the backyard pool. "What in Chaos' name?" The four ran outside to see that there was water all over the side of the pool. The fox Chao slowly looked over the edge of the pool, and saw a dark blue object at the bottom. "…It really worked." Just then, he noticed a dark red flickering around the blue object's wrist, until it turned into a dark red flash. The one object turned into two, a small hedgehog Chao and a brown haired teen. The teen grabbed the Chao, and headed towards the surface.

The two broke the surface, gasping for breath. Chris looked like he just remembered how to swim, and Swift eagerly jumped onto the boy's head. Ella went back inside, saying something about getting some towels. Chris breathed, "…Swift, why didn't you tell me you can't swim!?"

"Why do you think I _avoid_ water!?" Swift questioned as Chris swam the two over to the edge, and climbed out. "It looks like while my good powers transfer to you, my weaknesses also go to you, as well."

Miles then asked, "So… how was it, you two?"

"How was what?" Chris and Swift asked. Miles pointed to Chris' wrist- it still had the drained Chaos Morpher on it. "Oh, that… here." He then took it off, and handed it over to Miles. He also gave the Chaos Emerald to Swift

"It needs a little work," Swift answered, eager to hold his precious Emerald. "The battery only has an hour of life, and it gets drained every time we used some of my stronger moves. However, the test run we did against that Robotnik guy and the Speed Team was pretty successful. Oh, and we have calling cards, now."

Chris then asked, "By the way, Mr. Tanaka… is everybody okay?"

"Yes," Tanaka answered, a smile on his . "Though they wondered if you're okay, too. You _were_ bleeding, earlier." Chris remembered the gash he received while trying to protect Helen. However, the wound had already sealed up without a single stitch or bandage. "It's already gone? Interesting… perhaps Mobian hedgehogs have as fast of a healing factor as hedgehog Chao, like Amy and Swift."

"Guess my fast healing got to you, as well," Swift grinned. Ella came back outside, and wrapped each of them in towels. Chuck eyed both the Chaos Morpher that Chris took off and the Emerald that Swift was holding in complete suspicion.

'_If those things are for real,'_ Chuck thought to himself, _'and if Chris really did become a super powered hedgehog… then all of those years under _him_ weren't a mere waste of time. If that's the case… then damn it, Gerald Robotnik, you just _had_ to force your work on me, again.'_

---

**Robotnik's Unknown Base- 21:03**

Robotnik watched the combat footage of the hedgehog running buck wild on both his Egg Crower and the Speed Team in complete interest. "So… my grandfather's work wasn't completely wasted."

"_Sir,"_ the gold robot noted, _"with all due respect, what are you talking about?"_

"…I've told you about Prof. Gerald Robotnik's work, right?"

"_Yes sir."_

"Years before he was executed, he had been doing research on the Chaos Emeralds. There are said to be seven in total. They were said to be the reason why the Mobian race died out, but yet here this hedgehog is. And now that I know that _this _hedgehog has one… I know they exist. And if this hedgehog gets his powers from _one_ of the Emeralds… then imagine what power could be used for the Robotnik Empire's robots with all seven."

"_Are you trying to imply we put our efforts _away_ from America to collect the other six and then steal the Chaos Emerald from this hedgehog?"_ the short, silver robot questioned.

"No," Robotnik corrected. "I'm suggesting that we put some effort into finishing the _Death Egg,_ and while others deal with our new enemy, here, the three of us will scour the globe for the other five."

"_Wait, five?"_ both robots asked. Robotnik flashed a wicked grin.

"Because I _know_ where another Emerald is," he explained. "I found the location of the light blue Emerald around China. Grab your winter coats, Decoe and Bocoe… you're going to be the first machines to climb Mt. Everest!" Both robots looked at each other in shock.

---

**Swift:** Hey, Tanaka, I've got a question.

**Tanaka:** What is it?

**Swift:** What exactly is a "physical?"

**Tanaka:** It's a medical check-up to see if you're healthy Swift. Why do you ask?

**Swift:** Well, according to this letter, Miles and I have to attend one in order to become citizens.

**Tanaka:** Well, then, as long as nothing out of the ordinary happens, you'll be fine.

**Swift:** Okay, I probably was asking for the chicken, but a kick-boxing kangaroo robot? Do I have bad luck?

**Tanaka:** Next time, on _Sonic Chao Chronicles:_ Getting Physical! Adventure at the Hostile Hospital!

**Swift:** Just try to keep up with me!

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Sorry if this episode seemed rushed despite how long it took me. But, I wanted to introduce Sonic in a "badass" fashion. Also, I know that the only pure video game character that has calling cards is Sly Cooper, but the insignia deserves more love. Oh, and I believe I've updated so fast that there wasn't anytime for reviews in this chapter.

Now that that's settled, it's time for me to depart. Kingdom Rider92 out!


	7. Episode 3, Part 1

A/N: This is your DJ, Kingdom Rider92! I've got this fresh new chapter for you! Let's turn the track up!

---

**Thorndyke Manor- 08:21 Two Days Later**

Swift was bored. Again. For the twentieth time this week. And it was only Monday. He had slowly learned that Chris had school Monday through Friday on a weekly basis during the non-summer months. That being said, he couldn't turn into Sonic, again. Well, even if Chris was here, they'd have to get the Morpher back from Miles, who was tweaking it so it could last longer.

So, since Swift didn't want another pool incident, he decided to be bored inside. He turned on the television, and what he saw was more news about the incident on the highway and at the mall. _"It appears that these two incidents are in fact related,"_ Scarlet, the reporter,announced. _"While the blue vigilante now known as 'Sonic the Hedgehog' seems to be only wanting to help and race, many policemen, military figures, and even political figures call him a menace. Here are some interviews about this."_

"_What kind of sick joke is this hedgehog playing!?"_ Hector Drags, a jet black haired man with quite a bit of bulk on him and a burly mustache wearing an orange jumpsuit, yelled into the microphone. _"Destroying my favorite car like that, and making a fool out of me worldwide… hey, hedgehog, I don't know who you think you are, but you're dead next time we cross paths!"_

"_I assure you, miss,"_ a GUN soldier by the name of Card Passer told Scarlet, _"that GUN is finding out as much information on this 'Sonic' character as we can. Once we do, it won't be long until we've brought this creature to justice. I mean, for all we know, he can be a double agent for Doctor Robotnik."_

"_Now, citizens,"_ the President's aid, Jerome Wise, a man with tan skin, blonde hair, dark brown eyes, and a face that looked made for television, _"I believe I speak for everybody in President Baker's cabinet when I say we will deal with this Sonic the Hedgehog before too long. His kind is supposed to be extinct; he just needs to get the memo."_

"_Wow,"_ Scarlet sighed, _"all negative comments for the action that happened, a few days ago. While Sonic was last seen running straight off of a bridge, I doubt he has kicked the bucket. He might just be hiding. Still, there is one expert on the subject- Doctor Kai Narasu."_

"_Let me be the first to tell you, miss,"_ Kai Narasu, an Asian man with messy brown hair, really large glasses, and dressed in typical lab attire, _"that this Sonic character is nothing more than a robot. Let's put it this way- no living creature can go around three hundred miles an hour on the ground, not even a Speed Chao that is practically pumped with perfect Speed. And since that point is proven, another fact is that it could dismantle several of Robotnik's own robots including a giant metal chicken that not even normal bullets can pierce. So, GUN may be right with this Sonic character playing double agent for Robotnik… or it could be one of their own fighter drones that they've been working on. Either way, Sonic cannot simply be a flesh and blood creature- it just wouldn't make sense."_

"_Personally, this reporter doesn't care what Sonic is,"_ Scarlet smiled. _"I just hope that he has time for an interview of his own. This is Scarlet Garcia, Station Square News!"_

Swift groaned with a swirl over his head, "This business is starting off on the wrong foot… well, time to fix that." Getting up as the swirl faded, he yelled, "Hey, Miles! Are you finished upgrading the Morpher? I need to break into a high school, and take care of some damage control with Chris!"

Miles casually walked in, a question mark over his head, while looking at a letter. It should be noted that Miles is now wearing the yellow-tan vest that Chris bought him the other day. "What kind of damage control?"

"The kind that people don't like Sonic," Swift answered. "If we can get him a big enough fan base, maybe that will get people to support our hero business!"

"Hate to tell you, Swift," Miles retorted, "but fate has other plans." He then handed Swift the letter. The message read:

_**Dear Swift and Miles:**_

_**Congratulations on your recent adoption by Christopher James Thorndyke. However, neither of you have been given a proper physical. Please report to your nearest Chao hospital in order to accomplish this, immediately.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**The Department of Chao Services**_

"The DCS," Swift groaned, a swirl over his head. He had heard of the Department of Chao Services, before, and he hated them. Swift personally thought that Chao should be free to come and go as they pleased, but the DCS wouldn't allow it. If he ever did go rogue, the first place Swift would target would be the DCS' international headquarters in Paris, France. He then remembered something in the letter. Something key. Something that just made him think for a minute. "Chris' middle name is 'James?'"

---

**Episode 3: Getting Physical! Adventure at the Hostile Hospital!**

---

**Station Square High- 12:05**

Chris couldn't help but think about what happened the other day. One minute, he was watching the metal Egg Crower knock him, Tanaka, and Swift around before picking up Helen and preparing to eat her. The next, he bonds Swift's soul to his own body to become Sonic the Hedgehog, a super fast being that easily saved Helen, destroyed the Egg Crower, and laid waste to the Speed Team. And it was all thanks to a piece of technology that was made by a kitsune Chao that was living in his house.

Also, for some reason or another, there was an odd birthmark on the front of his left shoulder. It wasn't there when he woke up the morning he became Sonic. But when he took a shower to get the chlorine of the pool out of his hair, there it was. The birthmark or scar looked exactly like the Chaos Emerald that Swift carries around, but with seven smaller duplicates around it. What this meant and how it got there nobody knew. However, in his PE class this morning, people mistook it for a tattoo, but soon perished the thought. It doesn't hurt him, though… in fact, that's what worries him.

Could he tell his friends about all of this? That he was Sonic? That Miles was the one to thank that Sonic even exists? That the two Chao that he officially adopted yesterday were forming a group of heroes, and the fox Chao planned to mass produce the Chaos Morpher? That they had a super powerful Emerald just lying around at home? That Chris had somehow mysteriously gained a weird tattoo, birthmark, or scar? God no!

The reason why? Not only did this all sound ridiculous, but those in the Thorndyke Manor that Saturday afternoon were sworn to secrecy about the piece of technology. After transforming like that, Chris was aware that the piece of technology was extremely dangerous- too dangerous to let certain people possess. GUN was but one example, the other being Robotnik. Should the military be able to produce Chaos Morphers, then World War III would be on the horizon sooner than they expected. Hell, with that technology, GUN could probably overthrow the government if they felt like it. Not to mention that if Robotnik's Empire got their hands on it, then the world would be lost. Long story short, Chris knew too well that he shouldn't even bring it up in mild discussion even if he felt like it.

"Hey, Chris," Helen's voice interrupted the boy's train of thought, "are you okay? You haven't touched your lunch." Chris looked up at Helen, Danny, and Frances, who were staring at him.

"Um, yeah," Chris lied. "I'm fine, just…"

"You're thinking about the other day, aren't you?" Frances asked. God, if Frances couldn't read him, then Chris' life would be easier! "Trust me- no normal person, not even with the level of martial arts and weapons training, could have taken that robot. Don't blame yourself or Swift for that incident. Well… don't blame yourself as much as you would blame Swift. Besides, as you can see, Helen's fine." Well, if she couldn't mostly read him. He then looked at Helen- she was fine. "Anyways, Sonic had to get you patched up, so he dragged you and Swift out of there first. Then he saved Helen and kicked that chicken reject's tin can. Let it go, Chris… I don't think I could've beaten it, myself."

Chris knew that Frances had to swallow a good amount of her pride to admit that statement. She was one of the strongest kids in school. To admit that there was something too strong for her… he knew that was a powerful mental blow.

Danny then asked, "So… speaking of Swift, how's he doing?"

Chris, glad for a change of topic, answered, "He's gotten a little stir crazy after recovering from his injuries, but he'll be fine. In fact, he and Miles should be heading to their physical, right about now."

"Tanaka?" Helen asked, already knowing who would have the time to take them.

"Tanaka."

---

**Chao World General- 12:26**

"So," Swift asked as he, Tanaka, and Miles got out of the Lamborghini, "let me see if I've gotten this all right, Mr. Tanaka… a physical is a healthy check-up?"

"Yes," Tanaka answered.

"And all we've got to do is pass this physical, and we're in the clear?" Swift continued.

"That pretty much sums it up," Tanaka replied. Swift had a swirl over his head. "Is something wrong?"

"It's not you, Mr. Tanaka," Miles assured him. "Swift _hates_ the DCS and their laws."

"But isn't that board run by mostly Chao Elders?" Tanaka questioned.

"If I wanted to be told how to live my life by a bunch of Chao who have never done a thing for themselves," Swift scowled, "I would have never left the Southern Islands of the Caribbean."

"You've been doing some traveling over your years, haven't you?" Tanaka asked him. Swift only grinned, a heart above his head.

"You wish you knew," the hedgehog Chao smugly answered. "Anyways, let's get this physical over with." So, Tanaka checked the two Chao in, and they just waited for a while. Well, a while is what seemed to Miles and Tanaka- for Swift, time went by too slowly for his taste. Hours passed… well, what Swift assumed to be hours was actually twenty minutes. The poor hedgehog Chao had never had to sit still this long, before. If something didn't happen, soon, Swift probably would go nuts and bail.

But for some odd reason, despite his immense boredom, Swift couldn't help but notice something. Something strange. Like whenever he activated his Chaos Sense- you know, that sixth sense he has to detect his Chaos Emerald and other sources of Chaos Energy- that there was an object clouding his sense of the dark blue Chaos Emerald he had in the pocket of his vest in his pocket. Something was actually able to _compete_ with his Emerald in terms of Chaos Energy output, and it was _inside_ the hospital. That's what he felt like bailing after if nothing happened to hurry up with the physical.

However, something did happen. "Swift and Miles!" called the nurse. "Dr. Naka will see you, now." The two Chao looked up, and eagerly followed her to the end of the hallway. There, they saw a rather bored looking young Japanese woman that- if they have to guess- would be about twenty-four years old, had dark black hair in a pair of pigtails, hazel green eyes, small nose, a pair of glasses over her eyes, stood about 5'4", a slim hourglass figure under her white doctor coat, blue dress shirt, and chestnut brown skirt, and delicate looking skin.

"So, these are Swift and Miles, huh?" she asked, looking at them. Tanaka, who had followed the pair, simply nodded. "Alright, which one of you is Swift?"

"That would be me," the hedgehog Chao replied.

"Alrighty, then," the woman sighed, "so the fox Chao must be Miles."

"Yep," Miles nodded. "And you, ma'am?"

"You can me Dr. Karin Naka," the woman answered. "Lucky for you two, I happen to specialize in mammal Chao. Now, I'm going to start with Miles, first, then Swift." Karin ordered the two Chao, "If you would be so kind as to remove all of that gear you have on, then come into the room on your right." She casually walked into the room, still bored.

Miles reluctantly took off his badge, goggles, vest, tool belt, and the Chaos Morpher, placing them with Tanaka. Swift did the same with his sunglasses, vest, cobalt bracelet, and the Chaos Emerald. He warned Tanaka as he handed them over, "Don't let anything happen to the Emerald, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Swift," Tanaka replied. Swift and Miles nodded at him, and then followed Karin into the room for their physical.

The room they found themselves in was an ordinary hospital room, except for the fact that it was designed for Chao. Karin positioned Miles on a stool, and directed him at an eye chart. "Okay," she explained, "we're going to test your eyesight. Read as much as you can of each line."

"Simple enough," Miles grinned. "E, A, Z, F, I, O, J, Q, U, A, S, Z, O, H, A, K, U, N, A, R, U, H, I, N, A, F, T, W, This eye examination test was made by Phantasy Star Corporation. Any attempts to duplicate this chart without permission is strictly prohibited. The reader who gets the reference wins an imaginary cookie." Karin blinked at this. Sure enough, with the help of a magnifying lens, she saw that the small bit of copyright Miles read was on the bottom of the chart. "Swift could probably read the fine print within the fine print."

As if to prove this point, Swift read, "'Read _Sonic Arcadia: Air Pirate War._ It may not be the best of Kingdom Rider92's work, but it sure keeps you laughing! Also, support the possible series _Project: BEAST,_ _White Winged,_ and _Demonic Angel._ Especially _Project: BEAST,_ because that series will kick ass!'" (A/N: Can I get away with advertising?) Karin had to find a greater magnifying glass, and sure enough, Swift was right.

She only could say one thing: "…Amazing."

---

**Somewhere near Mt. Everest- 03:35 (Local Time)**

If there was one positive thing that years of scorn and being placed an international manhunt on had given him, Robotnik would have to say that with those years came the training of being a master of disguise. Let's face it- if you are an international criminal of the levels of Thomas Crown, Danny Ocean, Artemis Fowl, Lupin the 3rd, or even Sly Cooper, you damn well better be packing an insane amount of aliases, several sets of false identification, a mastery of ventriloquism and several years of training in every language known to man, and a bunch of disguises. Otherwise, you would have been in jail years ago. And Robotnik, although red suit him just fine, didn't think that orange brought out the color of his eyes.

Anyways, Robotnik was wearing a wig that was straight, dark brown hair, a face plaster to cover his mustache and real face, dark blue contact lenses, and a heavy, red winter coat. Long story short, nobody who saw him and his two robots- who were also garbed in heavy winter clothing so all you could see were their eyes- would have known that they were looking straight at one of the world's greatest terrorists and his henchmen robots. Instead, all they saw was an ordinary group of tourists who wanted to climb the mountain.

The golden tall robot, Decoe, questioned, _"Doctor, are you absolutely _sure_ that a Chaos Emerald is located at the _peak_ of the world's tallest mountain?"_

"Oh, quit complaining," Robotnik scoffed. "Of course, it is. There have been rumors that overhead scans of Mt. Everest have reported that there is a faint light blue glow under the ice and snow at the peak of the mountain, lately. That can only be the light blue Chaos Emerald, which is said to control the elements of water and ice."

"_Speaking of overhead reports,"_ the shorter robot, Bocoe, intrigued, _"why aren't we doing the simple thing of using the cover of night that we already have to just fly the airship over the mountain, drop a few droids there, and just have them retrieve the Emerald?"_

"Well," Robotnik answered, "the Chinese have been stepping up production on their airborne defenses since they've started to rival America in the business industry. They're getting suspicious that the States will send reconnaissance airplanes to steal their nation's work. Any and all attempts to infiltrate China by air would be shot down with brutal force before we could even set up a search team. So, the only way we can steal the Emerald is for us to actually _climb_ the mountain."

"_Oh,"_ Bocoe realized. _"I hadn't computed about that. But still, doctor… you're leaving the hedgehog back in America with no means of dealing with him."_

"Now, who said I forgotten about our new spiky friend?" Robotnik deviously grinned. "I've already gotten a game plan for him- when that hedgehog Chao fought against the Egg Crower, I secretly had a tracking device placed on him, as well as the girl that the hedgehog saved. For now, I'm going to start with the Chao- I've programmed another assassin robot to deal with him- the Egg Hopper."

"_And the handicapped girl?"_ Decoe asked.

"Well, it's a theory," Robotnik stated, "but I have a feeling that my grandfather's work somehow created the hedgehog. And if that's the case, then a human is behind the hedgehog's movements. That girl just happens to be very close to the human boy. In fact, close enough that he would take my Egg Crower head-on without batting an eyelash knowing she was about to die. If I find out more about her… then I'll find out about the human, as well."

"_Wow, doctor,"_ Bocoe praised Robotnik. _"That is a truly devious plan. Using somebody close to your new enemy to draw him out, and then getting rid of him in front of her very eyes! The pure shock it would cause her, and you wouldn't have to worry about the human!"_

"Flattery is _not_ going to get you out of climbing the mountain," Robotnik simply told him. Bocoe and Decoe both groaned. "Now come on! I want to be at the top before too long!" And with that- as well as a bit of complaining from Decoe and Bocoe- the three began their perilous accent of Mt. Everest.

---

**Chao World General- 13:26**

"Fifty-eight," Swift casually counted, continuing his push-ups. Karin Naka was shocked as to the fact that two Chao could do so many push-ups. It hadn't even been ten minutes after she asked them to start, and already the two Chao had done enough to best some of the Power Chao she had the chance to test. Initially, she thought that since Swift was a Speed Chao and Miles a Flight Chao, the two would struggle with this much exercise. But they were doing this like they had done this all of their lives. There were also the facts that Swift could predict when sound was made during the hearing test, Swift could beat his heart so fast that it actually flat lined, Miles had an IQ that rivaled most scientists of this day and age, and they both actually accomplished their respective Chao Type Tests in record time.

"You two are beyond normal Chao," Karin announced after she finally got them to stop. "Now, so far, Swift, you've only struggled with water, and Miles seems to have taken a bit of bumps… what exactly do you two do in your spare time?"

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you, Dr. Naka," Miles answered, wiping the sweat off of his face. "So… is that it?"

"Well," Karin honestly answered, "technically you two _are_ healthy Chao… but there's something about Swift that makes me curious. How is it that you can read stuff normal Chao would struggle to without a concentrated lens, know when a sound was going to approach, and how can you move so quickly? If you'd let me… I'd like to run one more test."

"What kind of test?" Swift asked the doctor, a question mark over his head. The hedgehog Chao soon found himself placed on a table with several suction cups plastered on his vital locations, surrounded by the inner walls of a machine. Karin had heard of Chaos Energy- in fact, it was a requirement by all of the staff who worked with treating Chao to know some of the basis of Chaos Energy, as it in the life source of all Chao. Also, they had found a mysterious green gem that allowed them to detect the levels of Chaos energy in the body of the tiny creatures (does this sound familiar to people). So, even though it was rarely used because most of the Chao Karin works with weren't exactly wonders like Swift and Miles, the final test was to use the machine to properly measure the levels of Chaos Energy that a Chao had.

Swift, with a swirl over his head, questioned to himself, _**'Lord Chaos, why did I sign up for this, again?'**_

"_Alright, Swift,"_ Karin began explaining through the speaker as the swirl disappeared, _"what we're doing here is measuring the levels of Chaos Energy you have. Now, most Chao these days are within the below fifty percent range. However, I've only heard that a machine like this was used only once or twice. Now, this process is _completely_ quick and painless… you just have to hold still."_

"If that's the case," Swift stated, "let's get it over- wait, Dr. Naka, how do you-?"

"_I'm starting up the process… NOW!"_ Swift then had to calm down from the exclamation point that he now had, and had to look at a bright green, thin light. Swift casually lied down, and let the thin light pass over him. He started taking deep breaths. Now, Chaos Energy has several ways of manifesting itself. When released from pores, it became bright lights surrounding the body. When mixed with high frequency radio waves, it made them visible to the naked eye. And when exhaled mixed with carbon dioxide in cold climates such as the chamber was placed in, the energy made a dark blue mist, such as the one Swift was breathing out.

Outside, Karin was looking at the results from Miles' scan- the test showed that he had around forty percent above the average level of Chaos Energy. The results of Swift's test, though, were just now printing out. So, when she reached out and grabbed them, she gasped at the results. Forty percent above average was one thing… but _eighty percent above average?_ This could not be right.

'_I'm not dealing with normal Chao, here,'_ Karin gasped in amazement. _'In fact… that Chao in there could _possibly_ end the entire world if he wanted!_ Just then, the machine's walls started to glow bright red, a reaction from Swift's breaths and the actual readings, breaking Karin from her trance. She looked up and noticed the flashing and warnings- Swift's test results were so high up there, that he actually _overloaded_ the scanner.

"Hey, doctor," Swift asked from inside, "what's going on? Why's everything starting to beep and whatnot?"

"…_Swift,"_ Karin began, _"your results overloaded the system. And if you've seen enough movies, you know that stuff usually blows to tiny bits."_ Swift's head had an exclamation point above his head as he got up. _"Don't worry, though… I'll open up the doors for three seconds, and you can just dash out."_ Swift casually ripped off the suction cups, and watched as the door opened. He then dashed out, and got over to Karin and Miles- who was waiting for him- as the door closed back up.

"Now what, Dr. Naka?" Swift asked. Karin quickly got out of the room they were in, followed by the two Chao. Karin then immediately shut the door, and locked it.

"…Now I have to turn in my things," she replied. "Because after all of this, there's no way I'll be able to keep my job."

"Why's that?" Miles asked. He was then answered by the sound of a rather huge explosion that blew the hinges off the door.

"I hate the DCS," Swift grumbled, realizing how close he was to dying, there.

"…Because once the head finds out that I was the one operating the Chaos Energy Scanner at the time of its overload," Karin replied while looking in the demolished room, seeing the small fires and dismantled equipment, "I'm as good as fired."

Swift, a swirl over his head, sighed, "I'm sorry about this, Dr. Naka."

"Hey," Karin smiled, "don't beat yourself up; Swift… you're not the one at fault, here. How were we supposed to know that you'd overload the system if I ran the test? No Chao has had even _half_ the Chaos Energy you do… that's something to be proud of."

"But I'm the one who overloaded it," Swift answered after the swirl disappeared. While he looked at Karin, he couldn't help but feel bad- it reminded him of the accident he caused with Helen at the mall because of his actions. He agreed to the test… and he relaxed so much that a lot of Chaos Energy seeped out. If he was going to actually be a hero, then Swift knew that he was off to a shoddy start.

Just then, several of the doctors started running down the halls. "Naka," one of the doctors asked, "what the hell just happened!?" He looked at the mess in the room, and looked at her. "How in the world did that machine get destroyed?"

"…Well," Karin began, "when I was running the physical on Swift and Miles, they resulted in being beyond average. So, I kind of-"

"It's simple, doctor," Swift butted in. Everybody stared at him. Bowing his head, Swift explained, "Dr. Naka was doing her job, and that peaked my interest. When she was surprised at how amazing we were, I demanded that she gave us one of the toughest tests that you guys had. The result of my test… well, there you go. I did so well that I quite literally broke the system. Dr. Naka is not at fault at all, today. There is nothing really to see, here." Karin stared down at Swift. Sure he seemed a little on the airheaded side, but he was also quite bold taking the blame that could cost the doctor her job.

"Really?" the doctor asked Swift. "Not too many Chao these days have Chaos Energy readings like that. Well, if that's the case, then I guess we'll have to be careful what Chao we test with that thing."

"Swift…" Karin stated, amazed. He was so bold.

Turning to Karin, the head doctor questioned, "So, where is the gem we were using to power the machine?"

"That green gem?" Karin asked, remembering that they had found a dark green emerald that was spewing out Chaos Energy. They had been using it to power the machine they used for the test on Swift and Miles. "…I think it's still in there."

"What are you talking about?" Miles asked, honestly confused. Swift just closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He then felt something odd- something he failed to notice before. His earlier sense was right- there was a source of Chaos Energy… in Emerald form, coming from that room.

Swift's instincts kicked in right there. He rushed in, ignoring the fire and smoking machine bits, and stopped at the central monitor. He casually plowed both hands into the sides of the control panel, and yanked it clean off. Ignoring the sparkling wires and shocked questions of the hospital staff, Swift looked down and saw a gem roughly the same size and shape of his dark blue Chaos Emerald. The only physical difference was that this Emerald was dark green. He placed his hand on it, and pulled it out.

"Another Chaos Emerald?" Miles whispered, looking at Swift's newly obtained prize. He walked over, and continued "This is the first time I actually remember seeing one besides the dark blue you already have, Swift. What is one doing here?"

"Who cares?" Swift quietly answered, handing it over to Karin. After walking away from her, he continued, "Does it matter where one ends up? We can't control where an Emerald is… it's the matter of who has it. I already have my own, so let's this one to the doctors. They seem trustworthy, enough."

"That's the thing about your instincts," Miles groaned, a swirl over his head. "We're leaving something powerful enough to counter _your_ Emerald in the hands of people we don't exactly know."

"But it's not exactly ours to take," Swift argued. "Look, it's been a pretty interesting day, and I wanna leave before we cause any further damage to this place." As if God had some personal venue against Swift- that, or really bad karma for almost costing Karin her job was out to get the poor Chao- what was left of the machine was crushed under the mechanical feet of a large, red sand colored, metal kangaroo. By the fact that there was no pouch, it was a male machine, this time. For some odd reason, it was wearing a white "Number 1" t-shirt, a pair of black boxer shorts, and a pair of red boxer gloves. The way the machine looked around suggested that it had a need for blood.

Finally, its eyes set their sights on Swift and Miles. Miles then said, "You're right… the DCS sucks!"

"Is right now _really _the time to agree with my opinion?" Swift questioned. The metal kangaroo- otherwise known as the Egg Hopper Mark 1- jumped over to the two, a punch ready. Swift and Miles moved from the spot they were in, and looked to see that the kangaroo just punched through solid tile and concrete. "…Okay, everybody," Swift yelled to the staff and the other Chao in the hospital. "If there was ever a time for you to calmly walk and not run to the nearest exit, now's a good time."

"What about you, though?" Karin questioned as she grabbed a group of Chao.

"We're going to get this thing as far away from you guys as possible," Swift answered. He then reached up to his head to flip down his sunglasses, but then he remembered something. Tanaka had all of their gear. Long story short, the Chao didn't have anything to fight with- no Battle Scanner, no cobalt bracelet, none of Miles' tools, no badge… nothing. "Also, find Mr. Tanaka, the guy who brought us here… and tell him to bring our stuff." The kangaroo then jumped straight towards them, bringing its fist down.

---

**Chao Card:** Miles

**Type:** Normal, Kitsune (Two tails), Flight

**Known Powers:** Impressive Speeds, High IQ, Helicopter simulation of flight, mechanical knowledge

**Equipment:** Work goggles, tool belt, Rhythm Badge (allows dancing spin)

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, this took a while. And I _still_ think Robotnik's disguise could have been better. Oh, and as for our good friend Karin Naka… well, Yuji Naka is credited for the creation of the Sonic series, right? Call her an ode to the creator of the series.

Anyways, reviews:

**Zohaku:** Oh, thanks... okay, first, let's touch on your review in Chapter 5. Yeah, that's what I was aiming for when I first introduced them as Sonic. As for the spin-off, now what famous holiday (Halloween) is coming up (Halloween) at the end of the month of October? (Halloween) I'd tell you what I have been thinking... **BUT THEN, I'D HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO KILL YOU IN YOUR NIGHTMARES LIKE FREDDY KRUGER! **(sp?) Just know that it's completely not canon =-) Okay, onto your second review!

True, small comedy was my goal, here. Also, I'm kind of shocked that nobody caught onto something. Guess nobody here has read the _Sonic X_ comic... not that I've read it, myself, though I'd kill to get my hands on one. Anyways, it's Tanaka's job to be intimidating. If anything endangered Chris, Tanaka has to handle the situation in his own method. And besides, if a small creature told you that he had inadvertadly mutated your godson into a talking hedgehog, you'd want to kill him, too. Also, have you been reading my mind? Do you have the power to read minds? Did you know I was going to bring this up in my next update? Are you **LAUGHING **at me because you **KNEW** I was going to break into this rant!?

N-nobody look at Zohaku's reviews, anymore! They're somehow spoilers!

**Salamander Hanzo:** Okay, after a response like that to Zohaku, people would think I wouldn't have any material to top that. And they'd be right. But still, Salamander Hanzo, your short reviews amuze me every time. I mean, I just have to glance, and I'm done. Alright, enough humor, thanks for being short and sweet.

**White Hunter:** Alrighty, then, here's the next part. I'm sorry I didn't fully get into the new robot. In fact, I really don't think I will. But still, here's hoping I try.

**SPark681:** I will try to keep up the great work. But still, it's school time, now... so we may hit a few snags along the way.

I'll try to update as soon as I can. Until then, Kingdom Rider92 out!


	8. Episode 3, Part 2

A/N: When we last paid attention to Swift, he was in the middle of yet another crisis. I swear that he attracts more trouble than an ice cream truck attracts young kids. Time to see how he gets out of it!

---

**Chao Card:** Amy

**Type:** Normal, Hedgehog, Working on Speed/Power

**Known Powers:** Pull a hammer out of nowhere… otherwise all powers classified

**Equipment:** Warrior Feather, Piko-Piko Hammer

---

**Station Square High School- 14:02**

Chris eagerly closed the door to his locker. He was glad that the school day was over for a few reasons. One, by now, Swift and Miles would be done with their physical, and they could chat over some nachos or something. Two, Miles had proven to be smart enough to understand the rather complicated readings of one William Shakespeare, and Chris _definitely_ needed some help with his English homework. Three, there was going to be a _Godzilla_ movie marathon at eight, and he needed to set his DVR.

So, he was kind of shocked that after he got outside the school, he immediately received a phone call from Tanaka. Wasting no time, Chris grabbed his cell phone, opened it, and asked, "What's wrong, Mr. Tanaka?"

"_What makes you think something's wrong?"_ Tanaka retorted over the phone.

"We had this policy when my dad first bought me my phone," Chris remembered. "In exchange for letting my friends actually _know_ my phone number, I had to agree that you and I keep in contact with each other whenever there's an emergency. So, whatever's wrong, tell me."

"_Well,"_ Tanaka answered, _"there have been a couple of accidents at the hospital. Both of which are Swift related."_

"Such as…?"

"_Well, the first one was the overloading of really complicated technology."_

"Oh, for the love of… where's Swift?"

"_Get to the point already, Mr. Tanaka!"_ Miles' voice yelled in the background. _"I think that kangaroo's found us."_ The sound of a wall falling apart could also be heard. _"Oh lord Chaos, it did! And it doesn't look happy!"_

"_He can't talk to you, right now,"_ Tanaka answered. _"He's busy dealing with the second accident in the form of a…"_ there was a crash on the other side of the line. _"Oh… crap. That looked like one mean robot kangaroo kick. I'll talk to you, later."_

"Mr. Tanaka, wait!" Chris yelled, but his plea fell on deaf ears. And by that, I mean that Tanaka hung up on him. He then noticed that his bus had just left. This was an interesting situation- he had no real way of actually getting _to_ the hospital on time since not only was Chao World General on the other side of town, but his grandfather was busy in his lab, today.

Luckily, somebody answered his problem. And that somebody was Mrs. Prower, who was picking Danny up from school to go to the dentist's office, which conveniently was a block away from Chao World General. "Hey, Mrs. Prower, can I get a ride over to the Chao hospital?"

---

**Chao World General- 14:05**

"Damn you DCS board!" Swift yelled as he ran through the halls of the hospital, the Egg Hopper… well, hopped after him. Even with super speed, it was ridiculously hard for anybody to outrun a hopping marsupial that looked rather pissed off. During the call between Chris and Tanaka, the Egg Hopper had taken the time to break into the room that Miles was hiding in with Tanaka, and kicked him all of the way across the hall. Now, it was setting its sights on Swift.

Tanaka lightly slapped Miles a few times to wake him up. "But I don't wanna go to Chao kindergarten, mommy…." Miles moaned with a swirl over his head.

"Miles, this is a matter of life and death, not the first day of school," Tanaka berated while placing the vest on Miles. Once Miles' full attention was on him, Tanaka continued, "Now, I did what you asked me to, and Master Chris should arrive, soon enough." Tanaka then looked around to make sure that nobody was around. Only when he was sure that they weren't being watched did he proceed. "But why do you insist that this is a job for that hedgehog creature called 'Sonic?'"

"It's Swift's idea, not mine," Miles answered. "Besides, do you _really_ think that Swift or you can take that thing? You saw how it crushed that scanning machine! And even if it held back with that kick, I think it cracked a pair of my ribs!"

Tanaka hated to admit it, but damn if Miles wasn't smart. Still, he'd rather not endanger Chris as much as Miles and Swift placed him into it. "…Fine, but you two Chao owe me a favor."

While Tanaka was arranging the favor that Miles owed him, Swift was dodging and duking his way out of the Egg Hopper's attacks. "Geez, you don't give up, do you!?" he yelled at the thing. The Egg Hopper only replied by launching a fist straight into Swift's cheek, plowing him through the wall. The Egg Hopper prepared another punch while Swift was still recovering, so there was no way he could dodge the blow.

"Get away from him!" a voice yelled. The Egg Hopper turned its head in time to receive a lead pipe straight into its face. Karin Naka was rather pissed off, right now- nobody destroyed the hospital, attacked the patients, and got away with it all on her watch. "If you want to hurt my patient, you have to go thru me, damn it!" The Egg Hopper took this as a hint, and simply swatted her away with her tail, slamming her into the weight scale. The Egg Hopper turned its attention back towards its original target, only to feel a hand on its left ankle. Karin, despite her chest and back injuries, was holding onto the robot's leg. "You're not… going to lay a finger on Swift!"

"Karin…" Swift dizzily explained with a swirl over his head, "I hate to break it to you… but that thing has a rough hay maker. What make you think that you can take it head on?"

"…I don't," Karin answered. Swift had an exclamation point over his head. "Swift, I don't think that I can truly go head-to-head with this robot."

"Then why are you doing it!?" he questioned. "You're just going to get yourself killed!"

"…Because Chao are my life," she answered. Swift's eyes grew wide at that answer. "When you first saw me, you probably noticed how bored I looked. I was originally expecting you and Miles to be ordinary Chao. However, you two proved that you're beyond ordinary. In fact, you're just like a group of Chao I met years before."

---

_**Flashback- Twenty Years Prior**_

_A young Karin Naka was with her family on a picnic in the field near the mountains. She had wandered a bit too far away from them, and was now wondering where they were. "Mommy!" the little girl cried out. "Daddy! Mommy! Where are you?"_

"_There you are, sweetie!" Karin's dad called her. Karin looked to see her parents standing near the cliff of the mountainside. Karin instantly ran towards them. That's when disaster struck… in the form of the side of the cliff collapsing. All three members of the family were subjected to a great fall- at the height that they were falling; none of them would have survived._

_Well, if it weren't for the group of wild Chao living in the forest below, of course. You can't just ignore free-falling people who didn't have parachutes or anything to stop their fall. That would be rude hosting._

_So, that being said, a group of ten Flying Chao went airborne, and grabbed hold of the falling family- four Chao went to the dad, four went to the mom, and the last two went to Karin. All the Chao, despite their quick flapping of their little wings, could only slow the decent speed that they were going. It wasn't really enough._

_Lucky for the family, though, a group of Speed and Power Chao quickly put together a makeshift net to catch them all, with. The group of Chao climbed the trees as high as they could, and extended the net. The humans softly landed in the net, and the flight Chao calmly helped them reach the ground._

"…_Cool!" Karin cheered, both relieved and surprised by the fact that she was saved by the Chao. The Chao looked at the family, who seemed impressed with their handiwork._

"_Karin," her mother asked, "are you okay?"_

"_Of course, mommy," Karin answered. "These Chao saved us, right?"_

---

**Back to the Present**

"From that moment, Swift," Karin stated, "I knew I wanted to spend my life studying Chao. However… years ago, I was shown disappointment. Not all Chao could truly be like those in the forest. In fact, most Chao these days are just plain normal Chao." The Egg Hopper had enough of the struggle between it and the woman holding onto its leg. So, it raised the leg that she was holding onto, and slammed it into her wall. Despite the amount of blood she spat out and the cracked ribs she just received, Karin refused to let go. So, the Egg Hopper lifted the leg up again, and this time slammed a fist straight into her chest. Blood, saliva, and air were ejected out of Karin's throat at that punch. Still, she refused to do the smart thing and let the damn leg go. "But Swift… you and Miles relit the fuse in my soul! Even if… I die, today… I'm not letting this robot kill you!"

Swift was awed by Karin's speech, and had to witness Karin's rather brutal beating as the Egg Hopper kept punching her. Soon, it made the Chaos Emerald fall out of her pocket. The Egg Hopper noticed this, and placed its leg down, distracted by the sight. Swift, for the first time in memory, wasn't distracted at all by an Emerald that was in plain sight. He, instead, was amazed as to how far humans would be willing to go to see their goals reached, even if it meant getting mauled by a robot kangaroo. That's when he knew that he had to save her.

"In that case, Dr. Naka," the Chao replied while getting up and massaging his cheek, "you may wanna let go." Karin was about to question why, only to see Swift jump up, and curl into a ball. He then slammed straight into the Egg Hopper just as Karin let go, and knocked it on its back. While it didn't show any signs of damage due to the armor being stronger than the Egg Pawns, the Egg Hopper wasn't as heavily enforced as the Egg Crower, so Swift could actually stun the thing on his own without using the Battle Scanner.

"Swift…" Karin gasped, impressed by his strength. She had trouble standing while Swift grabbed the green Chaos Emerald- he might need the power boost to heal quickly.

"If I get the stuffing beaten out of me," Swift told Karin, "that's one thing. But if I let other people fight my battles for me and watch _them_ get killed, that's where I draw the line. Now, let me go over the plan again… you go find Tanaka and get my gear back. I'll keep this thing's attention on me."

"Or, we could do plan B," Chris' voice interrupted. The Egg Hopper was about to get up, when its head was stepped on by Chris' shoe. "Swift, go get your things, and let's get this over with! Doctor, you may wanna get yourself patched up."

Karin blinked at this sight. "You're… Chris Thorndyke, right?"

"That's me," Chris answered, completely serious. "Now, hurry up!"

"On it!" Swift answered. He quickly grabbed Karin's hand, and dragged her down the hall. The Egg Hopper pushed up, forcing Chris to jump off of its head. If the thing was annoyed by the lead pipe and steamed by the pinball move that the Chao pulled off, the Egg Hopper was sure _enraged_ by the boot to the head. It wanted nothing more than to pound this kid into toothpaste, and then brush its teeth with said paste! A few well placed fists would have done the trick… if Chris wasn't so well trained to avoid getting hit.

This is not to say that Chris, while fully capable of dodging the assault, could actually take the Egg Hopper by himself. That would be suicide. Those fists were equipped with brass knuckles and hidden underneath solid steel boxing gloves- a punch from that would leave a sore taste in your mouth, as well as knock some of your teeth out. And as of now, Chris' adult teeth had finally set in, and he didn't need to get any wisdom teeth removed.

Chris barely ducked under one mean haymaker that lodged itself into the wall. Chris just whistled at the damage, and how the fact the punch that just trapped the struggling Egg Hopper was meant for his face. A good thing it missed, too- bone was proven to be made of weaker stuff than concrete and metal. And human brains were said to be made of weaker stuff. That hay maker would have killed somebody.

"Chris, if you're done distracting that thing," Swift, now fully geared up, said while running up to the human, holding the Chaos Morpher, "Miles has upgraded the Morpher, so the battery lasts a little longer, and we won't drain too much. Let's stop playing around."

"Finally," Chris stated, taking the Morpher from Swift, and placing it on his wrist. "Mr. Tanaka's probably going to be ticked that we're doing this… but right now, I'm not seeing any other options." Activating the watch, he screamed, **"Chaos Soul, Activate!"**

The Egg Hopper finally dislodged its hand to see that a new challenger stepped forward. "Hey, kangaroo," Sonic shot as the transformation completed, "I hate to tell you this, but this is a _Chao_ _hospital_, not a _robot_ _repair factory._ Perhaps I should send you there." The Egg Hopper took this in as an insult, and pounced. Sonic sidestepped the next blow, and was about to swing his own punch, but the two beings that made up his mind forgot something. The Egg Hopper, although weaker than the Crower, was a lot faster. So, Sonic didn't expect that spin kick to the face that launched him down the hall, making him spit up some blood.

Sonic rubbed his now sore cheek, and looked up in time to see the Egg Hopper getting ready to use him as a pillow. The hedgehog rolled out of the way, and got up quickly. He launched himself at the metal kangaroo, only to get a powerful uppercut. Now, Sonic's muzzle was dripping with blood. _'Damn it,'_ Chris thought as Sonic dodged another punch. _'This thing has fancy footwork. Every time we go in for an attack, it counterattacks before we can even wind up! How are we going to hit it?'_

'_**Know how you feel, Chris,'**_ Swift sympathized. _**'You, Karin, and I have only hit this guy when we caught it off guard. We need something to distract it!'**_

So, after dodging the next punch, Sonic looked around, looking for anything that he could use to draw the Egg Hopper's attention away from him. I would say something like, 'easier said than done,' but that's too cliché. Also, it's kind of a bad idea to take your eye off of your opponent in an enclosed area for too long. That's because if they're a deadly kick boxer, they'll take advantage of your wandering eyes for a mean body blow followed by a quick head jab, and a roundhouse kick to the cheek only paling in comparison to Chuck Norris, sending you straight through some lab doors. And that's exactly what happened to Sonic.

The hedgehog, after snapping his jaw back in place, and fixing his thin, broken nose, got up and looked around. _**'This is just great,'**_ a dizzy Swift complained. _**'We're getting our butts handed to us by a kangaroo, and there's nothing we can do about it!'**_

'_Swift, calm down,'_ Chris replied. _'We just need to find something that can be useful in this case scenario.'_

Swift questioned, _**'Chris, did you forget that we're in a hospital for **_**Chao?**_** What **_**can**_** we use?'**_ Sonic started to look around for something, _anything_ that could turn the tide in this battle, because he thought that the body blow cracked a couple ribs, and the roundhouse nearly dislocated his jaw. Sonic's eyes landed on an eye exam. No, that wouldn't last long. His eyes then went to some blood samples. No, this robot actually seemed to enjoy the scent of blood. Maybe Sonic could use the… oh good lord, no, he had standards, and that just seemed nasty!

That's when his eyes fell on the perfect tool for this battle. There it was, just lying there in its case, rarely ever put to use. "Crude," Sonic commented, "but very effective."

He didn't have much time to act, though, as the Egg Hopper bounced into the room, searching for its quarry. When its eyes fell on Sonic, the kangaroo saw that the hedgehog was holding to its face the hose of a fire extinguisher. Sonic jammed down on the trigger, spraying heavy foam and gas straight into its optical sensors. In common English, Sonic used one of the oldest tricks in the book.

'_**Holy crap, that actually worked,'**_ Swift commented as the Egg Hopper attempted to scrape the gunk out of its eyes. _**'Now, use the Battle Scanner, and find a weak spot on this guy, and let's scrap him.'**_

'_With pleasure,'_ Chris grinned. Sonic lowered his sunglasses, and activated the Battle Scanner. The sunglasses began scanning the robot for any signs of a weak point… and they found one. You know how the female marsupials have that pouch that they carry their babies in until they grow up? Well, if that pouch were on the Egg Hopper, then the area that it would cover would make a _great_ place to start bashing it to a pulp!

Sonic made his move, and gave the Egg Hopper a powerful uppercut, knocking it on its back. Sensing trouble, the Egg Hopper hurried the attempt of cleaning its eyes. However, when it succeeded, the kangaroo saw Sonic falling from above, his feet crunching straight into its lower body. This powerful kick hurt the machine like crazy. Before it could retaliate, though, Sonic jumped up off of it.

The Egg Hopper was really mad, now, as it hopped straight towards him. Sonic laid himself flat on his back. This wasn't just being submissive, no… Sonic was too brave for that. Instead, he launched both feet straight back into the lower section, making it hurt. Sonic didn't stop there. He used his incredible lower body strength to launch the Egg Hopper straight through the roof.

Tanaka, Karin, and Miles rushed into the room as Sonic stood up. "Are you okay?" Tanaka sincerely asked, noticing the blood all over Sonic's shirt. Sonic nodded, and pulled another calling card out, tossing it to Karin with her green Chaos Emerald.

"I'll be fine, sir," Sonic answered. "But first…" he then flipped backwards as the Egg Hopper landed on the ground. "So, how was the flight?"

"You know," Tanaka whispered to Miles as the Egg Hopper and Sonic resumed their battle, "his personality doesn't fully seem like Master Chris'… in fact, I'd say Swift's coy personality has also taken root."

"I'm developing a theory on Neo Mobians," Miles answered, "but I need more of them to confirm it. So, we're going to need to find a few more people to agree to help us."

"What are you guys talking about?" Karin asked. "And shouldn't somebody call the police? The blue vigilante is here!"

"Sonic's going to help a lot better than the police," Miles assured Karin. _**'I hope, anyways.'**_

Speaking of Sonic, he just had to duck out of yet another powerful blow. Once again, it was another hay maker, and it lodged the robot into the wall. Sonic then ran to the other side of the room, and curled into a ball. The Egg Hopper was defenseless to the power of a spin dash practically slicing it in half, spraying oil everywhere. Sonic calmly turned to the three, a grin on his face.

"Well, that takes care of the robot," the hedgehog announced. "My work here is all done."

"You're… Sonic, right?" Karin questioned, looking at the hedgehog. She then remembered something important. "Where are Chris and Swift? They both said they'd deal with the robot!" That's when the four heard police sirens. Sonic casually jumped up through the hole that he made in the ceiling, and saw what seemed to be a hundred police cars circling the hospital.

Jumping back down, Sonic explained, "The place is surrounded… I don't think we're going to be able to just up and ditch the cops."

"What's with this 'we' business!?" Karin questioned. "You're the vigilante, here! If anything, I'm just a victim or a witness!"

"True," Miles argued, "but when the police bust in here and start pointing guns, do you _really_ think that they'll believe that story?" Karin opened her mouth to argue, but the thought came in. There was a blood covered and oily metal kangaroo in here, and some of the oil had gotten onto her good doctor coat, as well as she spat up a bit of blood already. With the way crime acted these days, the police were willing to believe that she was an accomplice to Sonic, just like the others, here.

"…I'm so going to lose my job, after all," Karin moaned, dropping to her knees. Miles and Sonic looked surprised.

'_**Just when I get her off for the machine, now this!'**_ Swift groaned to Chris. _**'We… we have to do something!'**_

'_Tell me something I don't know,'_ Chris answered. _'…I've got an idea, but you might not like the results of this.'_

The next thing anybody knew, Sonic walked over to Karin, scooped her up bridal style (thanking God that Swift's enhancements give him super strength), told her a quick "I'm sorry," and then pressed a pressure point on her neck, making her pass out.

'_Thank you, Mr. Tanaka, for pressure point lessons!'_

"Master Chris, what are you doing?" Tanaka asked.

"First of all," Sonic explained while holding her, "for the sack of a secret identity, we can't use 'Chris' or 'Swift' around me when I'm like this, even if it's just us. It's either 'Sonic', or we don't talk. As for your question, I just let Karin lose her job over us, so I'm making it _look_ like she was just a victim here by knocking her out. Now, we need to borrow a couple hospital uniforms…."

---

**Outside, Five Minutes Later**

The police had only come to Chao World General for only one thing. And that was to see if this Sonic was here. They had heard reports of a blue hedgehog fighting off a metal kangaroo around the hospital, and they planned to take him into custody. But what convinced them was the large crater that the Egg Hopper created when it landed after Sonic kicked the thing through the ceiling of the building.

"Alright, Sonic," one of the police called into the building with a megaphone. "We have the hospital surrounded. Come out with your hands up, and we'll go easy on you. Failure to comply, and I personally will sure you don't see sunrise for at least a year. We've been authorized to use lethal force if necessary. In case you don't know what that means, I'll be frank- we're allowed to kill you if you try to get away."

As if on cue, a cobalt blur rushed out of the building, dropping one of Sonic's famous calling cards as it passed the police and the cars. The police stared at this for a few minutes. They were about to jump into their cars and rush after him when they heard a moaning sound. They turned to see two doctors emerging from the hospital, the taller one carrying a young woman in her mid twenties while the smaller one was holding a fox Chao. Oddly, these two doctors were fully dressed in uniform, and even had sanitation masks on to cover the bottom of their faces.

"Get this woman to a different hospital," the taller doctor ordered in a muffled voice while handing her over to the police. "We'll handle the Chao, ourselves." The two doctors then walked away without another word. The cops could only look down at the girl one of them was given, and then at the two doctors just walking from the scene. While they would have liked to ask what exactly happened in this building and where Sonic was heading, they had a duty.

"…Call an ambulance or something," the head officer ordered. "Sonic has probably gotten away by now, anyways. Whatever he's up to, it can wait."

What the officer didn't know, though, was that wasn't _exactly_ Sonic fleeing from the crime scene. In fact, the blur was moving so fast, that the naked human eye couldn't tell that the creature was Chao sized. And it is kind of surprising that none of the police noticed that the taller doctor had the build of a certain Asian bodyguard, the other was only a teenager, and the fox Chao had a second tail. Christopher Thorndyke, Edward Tanaka, and Miles had all left the scene without being noticed.

---

**Mt. Everest Summit- 05:28 (Local Time)… 4 Days Later**

"Well," Robotnik grinned, "that wasn't as hard as many people claim it to be."

"_S-s-speak for y-y-y-yourself!"_ Bocoe yelled at Robotnik. The scientist, himself, only had a few traces of cold obvious on his body. The robots, however, weren't as lucky. Decoe, not having any real insulation other than his thick winter clothing, was covered head to toe with even thicker ice. In fact, the only real reason Bocoe was doing the complaining for both of them was that Decoe had carelessly let his voice box and optical sensors get frozen over. Speaking of Bocoe, he had ice and snow covering his clothing, Robotnik had hogged most of the fire during the evenings, and there were two mountain goat horn shaped dents in his front armor that had occurred two nights ago.

"Oh, I'll have the repair bay fix you boys up," Robotnik assured Bocoe. "For now…" he turned back to the peak of the mountain. There it was. The faint light blue light that had been reported to be seen on Mt. Everest. He carefully walked over to the snow that threatened to snuff it out, and brushed the white fluff away. From there, Robotnik could tell that there was a light blue gemstone roughly the same size and mass as the other two Emeralds seen so far shielded by a wall of rather thin ice. Nothing that couldn't be punched through. "My grandfather was right," Robotnik deviously grinned, drawing back a fist.

Smashing through the ice with an impressive right jab, Robotnik pulled out his prize, and held it triumphantly in the air. "Behold, boys- score one Chaos Emerald for the Robotnik Empire! Now, we only have four more left to find and two left to steal!"

"_Y-yeah, that's great…"_ Bocoe sarcastically acknowledged. He then realized what the doctor said, that actually snapped away the cold chill. _"Wait, only _four_ to find, and _two_ to steal!? I thought there were only _two_ located so far! The one Sonic has and the one here in China!"_

"That was changed three days ago," Robotnik answered, pulling out a remote. "I regret to inform you, Bocoe, that the Egg Hopper is DIA. But _not_ before it located the green Emerald… the leading Chaos Emerald, and controller of Life. It was with a female Chao doctor last time I checked. That leaves us with three targets other than that hedgehog."

"_So, now what?"_ Bocoe asked.

"Now, I'm going to hate myself for this," Robotnik stated while his thumb edged over the button, "but I don't know how much longer you and Decoe will be able to survive these temperatures. So, the Egg Balloon is going to have to take one for the team, and test China's anti-air defenses so we can get you two patched up." He pressed the button, and a large, red blimp flew down from above the clouds, higher than any normal airplane or military jet on the planet could reach naturally. Bocoe had only one thing to say to this.

"_You mean you could've done this at _ANY TIME!?"

"Hey, I've always wanted an excuse to climb Mt. Everest," Robotnik honestly replied. "But I wanted you and Decoe to be with me. Not only did I complete a goal I've had since I was a kid, but you guys can at least die saying you've been to the top of this mountain."

"…_If I wasn't freezing my circuits, I'd strangle you to death, doctor."_

"I love you too."

"_Then I'll squeeze you all the harder."_ The three quickly boarded the blimp, and it soon went back above the clouds, avoiding human attention.

---

**Chuck's Garage- 15:39**

Chris, Swift, and Miles were casually walking over, all three of them confused. Well, one was more confused than the others, because they were admiring their citizen cards they just received in the mail. "What could grandpa want to talk to us about?" Chris questioned, looking at the two Chao. While Miles had a question mark over his head, Swift had a swirl.

"Anything that thief has to tell me better be good," Swift announced. "Otherwise, he's in for a world of hurt for wasting my Thursday afternoon."

Chris sighed, "For the last time Swift, I'm pretty sure my grandpa didn't know that the Emerald was owned. How was he supposed to know? The place looked abandoned in his description!"

"Both of you, shut-up," Miles ordered. "Let's find out what Chuck wants." Chris casually opened the door, and was surprised to see a certain Karin Naka, wearing a baby blue t-shirt and a pair of brown pants typing away at a laptop computer, with Chuck looking over her shoulder. "…Dr. Naka?" Miles asked, looking at the doctor. She looked up from the laptop, and smiled in delight.

"Well, if it isn't my former patients!" she greeted in a much cheerier tone then they left here with. "How have you boys been!?" As Swift and Miles eagerly rushed over to talk with her, Chris personally pulled his grandfather aside.

"Grandpa," the teen began, "not to be rude, but… what is Dr. Naka doing here? I don't think doctors make house calls anymore."

"Oh, she's not here for you, Miles, or Swift," Chuck answered. "Karin is my new personal assistant… as well as Miles and Swift's personal medic."

"But doesn't she already work at the hospital?" Chris asked.

"Not anymore," Karin interjected. "I was getting too bored with that place, Sonic." Chris and Swift stared at her, an exclamation over Swift's head. "It's alright… I had a guess when you two disappeared and Sonic saved the day, but what confirmed it was Professor Thorndyke's detailed adventure in former Maya, and the gem he found in his story was similar to the one Swift had. Anyways, boys, I quit to get a real job with Chao, and working with you all is the best job I can ask for!"

"Good to see you're up for it," Chuck solemnly replied. "Because with what I have to say, we may need your services soon, Karin." He turned to the boys, and began, "Swift, you still have your blue Emerald, right?" Swift reached into his tiny vest pocket, and pulled out the gemstone.

"I sleep with thing under my pillow," Swift explained. "The thing doesn't leave my sight unless I know it's in the right hands."

"Too much information," Chuck declared. Turning to Karin, he asked, "Please tell me you don't sleep with your Emerald, Karin?"

"Now," Karin said while pulling her green Chaos Emerald out of her pocket, "I'm not that protective of the thing." The next thing that happened shocked everybody in the room- the two Chaos Emeralds started to float in the air, and then proceeded to dance around each other, creating an effect akin to Ying and Yang. "You don't see that everyday."

"I've been meaning to ask," Chris interrupted, "but where did you get that gem, Dr. Naka? And how do you know about the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Well," Karin answered, "to be honest, the hospital found the Chaos Emerald in the forest outside of town. As for how I know this, if you're going to go into a Chao related field, Chris, it's best for you to know a few things about Chao folklore and culture. The Chaos Emeralds were thought to have been myths, but you've found evidence that proves otherwise- hence the physical and perhaps mental mutations of Swift and Miles."

"And this folklore is what my old teacher focused his life's work on," Chuck added, drawing all attention to him.

"Your old teacher?" Chris asked. "Grandpa, you always told you that you were taught by one of the leading scientists of all time, but you never mentioned him."

"That's because his name is now society's taboo," Chuck explained. "In fact, just discussing what he did could get us all killed. So, for the sake of our lives, I'll cut to the chase. We're all aware that there are more Chaos Emeralds where these two came from, right?"

"Yeah," Swift grinned, growing up on the stories. "My mom told me that there are seven total in the world, plus an Emerald capable of controlling those." Everyone in the room, knowing Swift was perhaps the only member of the group who had an IQ that was around average, stared at him. "What? My mom taught me some things."

"Anyways," Chuck continued, "Swift… have you ever considered finding the rest of them?"

"Hey," Swift smiled, "I'm perfectly content with the one I have."

"Well, you may want to start," Chuck scowled. "Because if all seven Chaos Emeralds fall into the hands of the likes of GUN and Robotnik, then it could mean the end of the world."

---

**Miles:** You're Danny, right?

**Danny:** Yeah. You're Chris' other Chao, Miles.

**Miles:** I've heard you were a great pilot. Just the guy we need for this job.

**Danny:** Um… could you explain, Miles?

**Miles:** Well, long story short is that GUN and Robotnik's troops are trying to track down Sonic, and are using aerial machines to do so. If you don't help us, well… your friends Chris and Swift will most likely die.

**Danny:** Wait a minute, what!? Chris and Swift are involved? What's going on, here!?

**Miles:** You want to know who Sonic truly is? Well, I'll tell you further, next episode.

**Danny:** Next time on _Sonic Chao Chronicles:_ I Wanna Fly High! Tails Takes to the Skies!

**Miles:** Gotta fly!

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, so Sonic wins again. Not to mention that the Emerald Score is:

Sonic: 2

Robotnik: 1

GUN: Hasn't caught onto all of this, yet!

**SPark681:** Yeah... I guess I'm joining the club of "people whose school lives clash too much with their story writing time." I hope we have jackets!

**Salamander Hanzo:** Out of curiousity, what's it going to take for me to get more than three words out of you in a review? Do I have to do a musical number?

**Zohaku:** ...I guess you didn't notice the eye exam in the last chapter. I worked hard on that! As for the Halloween fic... well... keep reading.

Ah, well, hopefully GUN will catch up. Also, know that Karin, for most of the first book, will _not_ be working in the field! She'll provide technical support, and take care of the Chao, acting like a mother to them.

Now, I know I said I'd do a Halloween fic. However, at the rate I'm updating and with the amount of heroes introduced into the story so far, nothing would make sense to anybody here, not even me. I would need further time to set it up. At least three more months at the rate I'm going. So, I'm afraid my Halloween story, _Sonic Chao Chronicles: A Scourged Night,_ will be placed on ice until 2010. Any holiday fic doesn't look good, either.

I'm sorry people. But I was hoping I'd be further along than I am. In order for the fic to make sense, I'd say I'd have to at least introduce Knuckles. I promise it will be here by Halloween 2010. If not, then may I be hit by a giant log!

Kingdom Rider92, out!


	9. Episode 4, Part 1

A/N: Chao Cam Productions is proud to present the next episode of _Sonic Chao Chronicles._

---

**GUN Fortress, Arizona Base- 15:25, About a Week Later**

When a young adult first joins GUN's ranks, they are usually assigned to a base to begin their four year training. The closest GUN base to Station Square in Arizona was but one of those many locations. And these greenhorn cadets were currently watching one of the recently recorded battle tapes of one rather unpredictable "enemy".

They were watching Sonic the Hedgehog combat several of Robotnik's Egg Pawns and a giant robot monkey. One of the robots attempted to stab him, but he swiftly dodged, and then thrust an open palm straight into the robot's chest, tearing the entire upper body clean off.

"Imagine that was a flesh and blood human on the receiving end of that counterattack," their instructor, Card Passer, announced to the rookies. They didn't really have to think about it for long- Sonic could most likely kill anybody if he didn't hold back. Passer, a tall man with tanned skin, a pair of rather soulless green eyes, brown hair, and a full goatee was a one colonel that you didn't want to screw with. If it wasn't for his questionable methods, he would be the forth of GUN's elite generals.

Even though he didn't really have to remind them that Sonic wasn't to be trusted, Passer felt the need to get it into his soldiers' systems now- Sonic was to be killed on sight. "That hedgehog may seem to be working against Robotnik, now," Passer declared, "but it'll only be a matter of time before Sonic starts to attempt to conquer the country himself. I say we take him out, now, before he decides to make a move."

"But sir," one of the rookies voiced, "what if Sonic is just trying to help? Then we're just declaring war on a possible ally!"

Passer took one look at the young soldier who said that, and then turned to his more loyal and knowledgeable soldiers. He nodded at them, and two of them walked over to the recruit. They grabbed both of his arms, and dragged him out of the room, the poor boy flailing and screaming. Soon, after a few minutes, the screams got louder, as well as the sound of bones cracking. Passer did not at all tolerate free thinking in his base.

"Let that be a lesson to all of you," Passer warned. "The _next_ person I catch on my base viewing Sonic in a positive light… you're going to go home honorably discharged, just most likely paralyzed from the waist down." All of the young cadets instantly got the message, and nodded. "Now then, for your first formal assignment, ladies and gentlemen… as we all know, Sonic the Hedgehog has been fighting off Robotnik's forces in the past two weeks. We need to interfere with one of those battles, and eliminate Sonic before it ends.

"Now, short and simple… I want Sonic the Hedgehog's severed head on my desk by the end of next week." Passer looked back to the video, and saw Sonic spin dash through the large robot monkey with ease, and sake off the oil covering him. "Do you all understand me?"

The new GUN troops all stood up and saluted, "SIR, YES SIR!"

---

**Episode 4: I Wanna Fly High! Tails Takes to the Skies!**

---

**Prowers' Workshop- 08:24 on Saturday**

"So," Swift asked while looking at his dark blue Chaos Emerald and sitting in the back seat of Tanaka's Lamborghini with Miles and Karin while Chris was in the front seat and Tanaka parked the car, "why are we taking the day off from all of our field work at your friend's house?" Chris today was wearing a dark blue jacket over a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of black jeans, while Karin was wearing a sun yellow blouse with a spring green skirt.

"For starters, Swift," Miles answered, a swirl over his head, "in the short amount of time we've known Chris, neither of us have been to any of his friends' houses. Secondly, I have something called 'a life' that's outside of Chuck's garage working on the second Morpher with Karin's help!"

"Which is nearly finished, I may add," Karin interjected. "Besides, Swift, as a Wild Chao turn Citizen, you should take some opportunities to see what life is like for Chao who were born home-raised."

"Um, I only know one home-raised Chao," Swift thought aloud, thinking of Amy. A heart appeared over his head, and a blush on his face. She was pretty cute… He then snapped his thoughts to reality, getting rid of both the blush and heart, and then asked, _**'What the hell am I thinking of her, for!?'**_

To distract himself from the thought, he looked at Danny's house. Now, he knew Chris' house was huge, but Danny's place wasn't one to shake a stick at. It was a huge brown house that had real stone in the foundation, as well as a long driveway, and- despite it looking like an ordinary log cabin- Swift could tell that there was something odd about this building.

Miles casually flew up towards the door, and looked at the odd custom knocker. It looked like two fox tails joined together by a ring. He lifted it up, and slowly knocked on the door three times. The entire time, he felt weird… like he was Swift staring at a sense of Chaos Energy… of course, before he could ponder this any further, he was distracted by something that made an exclamation point over his head. Having Danny open the door and greeting you will do that to you.

"Hey, Chris!" Danny greeted. Today, the boy was wearing a coffee brown vest over a yellow t-shirt and a pair of brown pants. He noticed the shocked fox Chao flying in front of him, and blinked. "Hey… you brought _both_ of the Chao!"

"Y-yeah," Miles stated, landing on the ground and calming down. Politely bowing to the boy, the fox Chao greeted, "My name is Miles. You're Chris' friend Danny, right?"

"Yep," Danny grinned. "Daniel Prower at your service!" Looking at Tanaka and Karin, Danny asked, "Um… did Tanaka get a girlfriend?"

"What!?" both the butler and the former doctor asked, blushing furiously. "HELL NO!"

"Um, Danny," Chris whispered, "Ms. Naka here is Swift and Miles' official doctor. My grandpa hired her, since Swift is so… clumsy."

"A doctor, huh?" Danny asked. "Are you sure your parents didn't hire her since you've been getting tired and banged up, lately?" This was rather true- with all of the robot attacks, Sonic has to fight more and more, getting hurt often. Also, these incidents have been costing him some homework and study time, forcing him to lose precious sleep. And it was all because of what his grandfather said.

---

_**Flashback to a Week Prior**_

"_W…What!?" Chris gasped, looking at his grandfather. Swift and Miles were also stunned by this sudden announcement. "Grandpa… what do you mean 'the end of the world!?'"_

"_It's exactly what it sounds like," Chuck answered. "Karin, share with them your research you've shared with me."_

"_Right," the former doctor nodded. Looking back at her laptop, she began, "You three are no doubt unaware of the rumors that all Chao today are the descendants of aliens that came to this planet as part of a pioneer program?" While all three looked pretty confused, Swift had somewhat of a clue._

"_Well… I heard of it from my mom when she told me some of the origins of my Chaos Emerald," Swift answered, looking at his Emerald still floating in the air, circling Karin's green Emerald in a seemingly eternal dance. "Chao came to this planet in an island shaped spaceship near the territory of the Echidna Mobian Tribe for peaceful settling of our race. Back then, the Mobians that are now extinct were the dominant species on the planet, the Echidnas being the ruling tribe. As much as I hate it, we Chao have a code to honor and aide the dominating species of any planet we decide to settle on in exchange for personal freedoms and a little territory of our own- hence, this world's Chao World on one of the Hawaiian Islands._

"_Anyways, our code would have eventually formed a treaty between Chao and the Echidnas, had their species not started a small war with us for our life sources, the seven Chaos Emeralds, and their controller, the Master Emerald. The reason why was because the head of the Echidna clan heard that our guardian god, Chaos, had gained great power with the might of the Emeralds he created, and the Master Emerald was so strong that it could stop any source of Chaos Energy with the help of a sacred chant. The Chief wanted plenty of power, and he saw the Chao as a threat with the Master Emerald able to stop the Chaos Emeralds on a dime. So, he attacked the colony with a hundred warriors strong. The original clan of Chao that came here weren't exactly fighters, so I'll leave how that little assault went down._

"_My mother didn't go into detail, but she said that Chaos came down onto this planet, and, seeing his worshippers in trouble, used the Emeralds to cause a great flood to wash over the world, killing off many of the Mobians, kind of like what happened in your Christianity's Holy Bible in the chapters of Noah's Ark. After the flood, Chaos has never come back to Earth to issue judgment, the Emeralds split away throughout the planet giving us free reign as to how far we can go, and the world has since been in peace." He then noticed the shocked eyes just staring at him. "What?" the hedgehog Chao asked, a question mark above his head._

"…_Who was your mother?" Karin asked Swift. "Because she knew stuff that not even most of today's researchers should know. Charles and I knew some of it because of our previous respective affiliations with Chao."_

"_Grandpa," Chris blinked, "you never told me you worked with Chao."_

"_Well," Chuck nervously chuckled, "you never asked, and I only worked with one Chao before Swift and Miles."_

"_To answer your previous question, Dr. Naka," Swift interrupted, "my mother was the descendant of one of the original Chao pioneers that came to this planet and lived to tell their story to their children, who have passed it on for generations. I've heard the whole story and even the tale of the Chaos Emeralds were covered up by the damn DCS in Paris, France to encourage Chao-Human relationships. They think that now that we have an actual planet to call home thanks to humanity, we Chao who do still know should keep it away from the public, lest we reopen old wounds- because nothing opens a wound quite like our god bringing the apocalypse to punish the greed of humans."_

"_Swift…" Miles asked, a question mark above his head, "did you know something _I_ didn't?" Swift casually nodded. The question mark turned into a swirl of annoyance as the fox Chao continued, "And this is the first time you're sharing this with me?"_

"_Hey," Swift replied, "as much as I hate the DCS, I like to stay alive, too. I heard that the DCS actually executes Chao who spread insane public propaganda."_

"_Anyways, back to the topic at hand," Chuck announced. "As we now all know, the Chaos Emeralds could- in the wrong hands- wipe out all life on the planet. Now, Chris, as we've both experienced first hand, we know how cruel GUN can be. And we just know that Robotnik is after the Emeralds after what he said to Swift last Saturday. If either of those groups gets their hands on the Emeralds, it'll be World War III, which will just be an equivalent to Armageddon. And it just seems safer for the rest of the world if we find the Emeralds first, and return them to the space ship. I plan to find out possible locations on the world news, but for now… we should focus on the fight at home."_

"_You mean Robotnik, right?" Chris asked._

"_Leave him to me and Chris," Swift grinned._

"_Oh, no you don't," Miles scowled. "I want to take to the field myself. And since I like the results you guys have given me, I think it's time for a second Morpher, and to figure out who's to wear it."_

---

**Back to Present**

Now, Chris was involved in a rather interesting fight to capture the Emeralds. So far, his grandfather hadn't found anything. But Robotnik had been attacking constantly, which was really costing the boy his sleep.

Anyways, the group was now inside Danny's house, touring the facility. Miles was letting his curiosity show- he had always wanted to explore a laboratory, but he could never convince Chuck to let him go to his actual work. So, seeing the Prowers' home laboratory was the second best thing for him. The fox Chao was impressed with all of the junk just lying around in Chuck's garage, but the sights and sounds of tinkering technology was amazing.

"…And this is my dad's prototype for a dog sentry robot!" Danny introduced, turning towards a small, metal dog that looked exactly like a cocker spaniel puppy. The robot dog just barked once to acknowledge that it heard him. "It's alright, Scrap."

"Why'd you name this thing 'Scrap'?" Miles asked, looking at the robot dog.

"Well," Danny grinned, "he was made from various bits of scrap metal that dad had lying around."

"But he looks so well built."

"The scrap metal came from our prototype biplanes that crashed."

"Oh." He had heard about each of the plane attempts, all ending in disaster. Miles supposed that Scrap would be the perfect way to reuse all of that metal that was destroyed in the crashes. Better than letting it all go to waste by rusting.

The group was then taken to the basement, which housed the only successful plane that Danny, Chris, and Chuck had built. The plane had changed much over the past couple weeks- now it had a red and yellow paint-job, there was an actual GPS system in it, the engine was overhauled, and the insignia that was the knocker on the front door.

"Hey," Swift said, actually interested for once. "Did this plane get an upgrade!?"

"Yeah," Danny replied. "Chris, I hope you and your grandpa didn't mind that me and my parents went ahead and finished the plane without you."

"No, it's fine," Chris honestly answered. "The plane's been your project for the past five years. I'm just glad it's finally finished." This drove Miles to complete excitement, a heart over his head..

"…Can this thing actually fly!?" Miles asked, jumping into the pilot seat. "How fast can she go!? What fuel do you use!? Any weapons on board!?"

"Calm down, Miles," Swift stated, jumping into the pilot seat as well, pulling the fox Chao out. "Sorry, Dan… Miles' inner techie got to him."

"You mean he's also into all the technology?" Danny asked, looking at Miles struggling to escape the headlock Swift placed him in. "Where and how did you two meet?" The two stopped their fighting to look at the boy.

"It's a long story," both of them stated. Just then, Scrap ran downstairs, barking up a storm, shocking the entire group.

"What is it, Scrap?" Danny asked. Scrap barked again, and ran upstairs. The group casually followed until they saw Scrap in front of the television, looking at the news. A giant, metal falcon was on the screen, flying above Station Square, dropping off plenty of rather unwanted cargo in the form of Egg Pawns.

"Looks like we're going to have to cut this tour short," Swift announced, looking at Chris. "We've got to get back to the mansion, right, Chris?"

"Right," the boy nodded. Turning to Danny, he stated, "Sorry, Danny. But I just remembered I have something to do, today!"

"What?" Danny asked, looking at Chris. "Um, hate to tell you this, but those robots are attacking. You're not going to even get downtown! If you've got to go home, then let me fly you!" Chris blinked at this offer. He didn't really know what to say. If he took it up, then he would have to reveal to Danny that he's Sonic. However, if he didn't, then it would only make the group seem suspicious without an excuse. But all of the good ones Chris personally could not just pull off!

"I left something in the oven?" No; the last time Ella let _anyone_ else in her kitchen was when she was sick with the flu, and to this day, Tanaka and Chris are still under that restraining order that they can't be within ten feet of the kitchen door.

"I forgot to do my homework?" No; Miles had been tutoring Chris ever since the official adoption of him and Swift. Besides, Danny had the exact same class schedule as Chris, and he knew darn well that they didn't have any homework.

"I need to set my DVR for the uncut episodes of _One Piece?"_ No, Chris loved that show too much to not set the DVR whenever he couldn't watch it, and Danny knew it!

"I have to help grandpa?" Not going to work either; Danny would've been called over as well.

"I have some errands to run?" Didn't Chris and Swift just say they were going to the mansion?

Look, I could keep going, but you get the point- Chris had no real reason to suddenly leave, and he'd look suspicious if he did. As he was thinking, he then remembered something that Swift and Miles brought up.

---

**Flashback- a few Days Ago**

_Sonic collapsed on the couch of Chuck's living room before turning back into Chris and Swift. "Owwwww… that monkey had a sucker punch," Chris groaned, rubbing his sore cheek. "It took us three spin dashes and a Homing Attack to take down."_

"_But you're still alive, at least, Master Chris," Ella stated while handing him an ice pack to nurse his cheek with. Karin walked over, and picked up Swift._

"_Let's tend to your scrapes, Swift," she smiled at the Chao, tickling his small stomach. It actually made him giggle a little bit._

"_Not yet," the hedgehog Chao chuckled. Turning to Miles, he asked, "How close is your second Morpher to completion."_

"_A few days," Miles answered while looking up from working on his device. "Give or take. Great fight, by the way. Sonic's approval rating is starting to rise up. But add a little more flair in your next battle. No offense to all humans present, but all of you love over the top performances."_

"_None taken," Chris acknowledged. "But I don't want to make Sonic look like an egomaniac by making street shows out of fighting Robotnik's Badniks." Miles and Swift just stared at him. "What?"_

"'_Badniks,' Chris?" Swift asked. "Really? Is that the only thing you can call those insane robots that are different than the grunts? We've been fighting these things for almost two weeks now, and all you can come up with is 'Badniks?' It's like it came out of a comic or Saturday morning cartoon!"_

"_It was either 'Badniks' or 'Hatchlings.'"_

"…_Badniks, then," Swift sighed. "But I still think it sucks. Anyways, you were saying?"_

"_Right," Chris remembered. "Look, not to sound selfish, but when I signed on board for this whole hero thing, it was only because my friends were in danger at the time. Now, I'm only keeping this up because we can't let the likes of GUN or Robotnik have seven gemstones that have the powerful equivalent to or possibly even greater than a nuclear warhead. Otherwise, they could destroy civilization as we know it. I'm not doing this to help with your guys' whole 'hero' business."_

"_Too late for that," Miles replied. "The entire world has been debating Sonic's true alliance. Whether we like it or not, you're the news."_

"_Look, Miles," Chris yawned, "I'd normally argue with you if I wasn't so darn tired. All of these attacks with no real break!"_

"_Which is why we may have to get somebody else involved," Swift announced. Chris stared straight at him. "Look, I know Miles. And last week, he said he's going to take to the field as soon as the second Morpher is active. Once he makes up his mind about something, it's rarely ever changed. That means I have to use my Chaos Sense to track a suitable ally for him. I've checked everyone here, and nobody has the proper energy reading as the guy."_

"_But what about secrecy?"_

"_I know," Miles agreed. "But despite having amazing healing, super speed, enhanced endurance, and increased strength, you on that couch proved that even with these extra powers, you're still human. It may end up exposing up, but if we're going to have a proper crack at the other five Chaos Emeralds that are no doubt around the world, our little team needs more firepower than Sonic alone can offer. We need to start thinking of candidates for the team."_

---

**Present**

Chris was still annoyed about that memory. He had tried to argue with them, but eventually, he came to the difficult conclusion that Sonic just wasn't going to be enough to tackle on an international treasure hunt on the level of one he read about in a thriller novel (A/N: Seriously, if you have the time, READ _Seven Ancient Wonders_ by Matthew Reilly! It's like a hardcore action flick/video game successfully novelized! Oh, his other works are good, too!) If Chris was going to seriously help Swift and Miles in his grandfather's set-up Emerald hunt, then he had no choice but to tell somebody and ask for their help. And right now, Danny could help.

"…Danny," Chris sighed. "If you're going to fly us somewhere, could you fly us above downtown?"

"Sure," Danny answered. "Why do you wanna go there? It's not like Helen and Frances are being hostage, again."

"There's something I have to do." Miles instantly headed downstairs, and jumped into the copilot's seat.

"I'll move the car," Tanaka sighed. "Ms. Naka." Confused, she followed him, as well as Chris and Swift. Danny, meanwhile, got into the pilot's seat, and turned on the engine of the plane.

"Computer," Danny ordered, "activate the Prower biplane's runway launching sequence." While the platform that the plane was on suddenly seemed to rise- much to the amazement of Miles, who had always wondered what flying without the use of his tails would be like- Danny put on his dark brown flight helmet and goggles. Miles, to imitate him, placed his own goggles over his eyes. Eventually, the lift made it to the top- inside the extra garage on the side of the house. When it opened, Miles looked out to see the driveway had been cleared for takeoff. He had only one thing to say.

"I have _got_ to build something like this whenever I get back to Maya!" Chris and Swift were right outside of the garage waiting for them as Danny pulled up a little.

"Hop in and put on your helmets and goggles!" Danny yelled over the propeller. The two didn't need to be told twice. However, the closest thing that the two Chao had to helmets their size were Chao egg shells that just happened to be lying around, and Swift's sunglasses had to do for his goggles. Turning to the two adults, he asked, "Are you guys coming?"

"No," Karin replied, shaking her head. "I've only been in an airplane once, and I don't want to do it again!"

"I should probably drive her home," Tanaka announced. "Oh, and Master Chris… do be careful!"

"I will!" Chris replied. "You two stay out of trouble, yourselves!"

"Alright," Danny grinned. "Prower biplane, _Tornado,_ engage!" Tanaka and Karin then watched as the plane took off, heading towards the town. After they flew off, Karin turned to Tanaka.

"…Danny's a nice kid, isn't he?" she casually asked the butler.

"Master Daniel and Master Chris have gotten along ever since they met when they were younger," Tanaka replied. "Daniel has aspired to be a pilot for a long time, and the two have been working on planes for the past few years."

"And he doesn't know that Chris is Sonic, right?"

Tanaka only sighed. "He'll probably find out. But then again, if Master Chris is truly serious about helping Swift and Miles, then Daniel is a good start- he has a method of transportation that could get this little team into serious locations and out of tight spots, as well as the expertise to do so. Not to mention that his IQ is just about as high as a certain fox Chao's… in short, I think Master Daniel is the best recruit Master Chris could ask for."

---

**Skies above Station Square- 09:12**

"This… is… AWESOME!" Miles whooped over the loud gale of the wind blowing into their faces. The group was flying over the city, looking at the Egg Pawns running amok.

"Welcome back to the field," Swift casually told the fox Chao. "You know, when I look back, I can't call you the same Chao I met back in the Mystic Ruins Chao Garden. You were too scared to get involved in anything!"

Miles could barely hear this, but he heard the last part. A swirl over his head, he scowled, "I wasn't _that_ scared when I first got in the field with you."

"You almost got us caught when we had to harvest those junk parts for that hover board that didn't even work!"

"What are they talking about?" Danny yelled to Chris. "I can't even hear them!"

"Beats the heck outta me!" Chris answered. "I barely understand _half_ of their arguments that _aren't_ adventure related!" Looking down at the destruction, he saw that the Egg Pawns weren't really doing anything out of the ordinary. Just doing basic destruction that was similar to the attack that would be the precursor to his career as Sonic.

"Hey, Chris," Swift spoke up. "Should we tell Danny about why we had him fly us over here?"

"…Yeah," Danny agreed. "I've been wondering why you guys had me fly us out here. What's up?"

Chris reluctantly showed Danny the Chaos Morpher. "You know that Sonic the Hedgehog shows up whenever I'm near somewhere when an attack by Robotnik happens?" Danny nodded, looking at the Morpher before turning back to the sky. Danny couldn't help but feel as though as he had seen that watch, before.

"…Where did you get that watch?" Danny asked. Before Chris could answer, a laser shot past both humans' heads, barely an inch away from their cheeks.

Chris turned to see that there were five floating versions of the Egg Pawns chasing after Danny's plane. "We've got bogeys!" Swift yelled, unbuckling himself. It should be noted that the Chaos Emerald in his pocket fell out into the seat. Chris followed suit.

"Chris, what the hell are you doing!?" Danny questioned as the duo stood up. Chris sighed as he walked out onto the wing.

"Danny," Chris began, "what I'm about to do and say is going to freak you the hell out. But no matter what happens to me, you've got to keep this plane airborne in case I need a pick-up." The next thing either Miles or Danny knew, Chris and Swift both jumped out of the plane, and Chris pressed down on the Chaos Morpher.

"CHRIS!"

"**Chaos Soul, Activate!"**

---

**Human Card:** Daniel "Danny" Prower

**Occupation:** High school student, Inventor, Pilot (second and third in spare time)

**Known Family:** Jackie Prower (father), Hannah Prower (mother)

**Hobbies:** Building inventions, flying planes, hanging out at the mall

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Yeah, Happy Halloween, peoples. The reason for the huge delay is that applying to college _sucks!_ And now for something completely different.

**Salamander Hanzo:** ...You know, after the first three times of proding, I should've expected an answer like this. Still, it's glad to know you're not a zombie.

**White Hunter:** My real life chooses the worst times to suck. And I also picked the worst year of my life to attempt to start a new fanfiction project. Hence, the near 1-2 times a month updates.

**SPark681:** I'm sorry to hear about your Godzilla movies. But I'm even sadder to say that Godzilla is playing the role of Sir Too-epic-to-appear-in-this-fanfiction.

**Zohaku:** ...Are you stalking my brain? Stop finding out ideas as to how I do stuff! But serious, though, next part will have some heavy Miles and Danny conversation, and then the episode's titicular character will show up in a dogfight with GUN. I figured at this point, Danny would have a personal agenda with them, anyways. They blew up his other plane and not allowed him in the state of Arizona, after all- he's the perfect first choice for Swift's little gang.

This has been something completely different. Kingdom Rider92, out!


	10. Episode 4, Part 2

A/N: WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PORTION OF EPISODE WILL BE SHOWN IN EXTREME-AIR-O-VISON, AS MOST OF THE FIGHTING IS AIRBORNE. FOR THOSE READERS WHO GET JETLAG, AIRSICK, OR ARE FAINT OF BLADDER AND HEART ARE ADVISED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM, TAKE A NAP, NOT EAT ANYTHING, AND STRAP IN BEFORE PROCEEDING.

WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR SCHEDULED READING, ALREADY IN PROGRESS.

---

**Equipment Card:** _Tornado_

**Inventor:** Daniel Prower

**Purpose:** To fly faster than any jet plane GUN has

**Notes:** "After eighteen unsuccessful attempts (one being because of GUN), I finally built a successful plane! I'm sure Chris would love to fly in this for an adventure or two!"

---

**Skies above Station Square- 09:17**

Danny Prower could not believe that his best friend and one of his Chao jumped out of a plane towards rather angry looking flying robots. The first thing that came into his mind was that Chris was either really brave, stupid, or both to do something like that, as if the robots didn't kill him in midair, then the landing sure as hell will. The second thing that he noticed, though, was that Chris had some near _beastly_ lower body strength! He had jumped pretty far off the plane, and wasn't even falling yet.

But one thing bothered Danny… what did Chris mean by, "What I'm about to do and say will freak you the hell out?" Well, he got his answer when Chris and Swift (who was still on Chris' shoulder) were suddenly enveloped in a bright blue light, and out of the light emerged a dark blue hedgehog that just punched through one of the flying robots, grab onto the bottom of the wings of the second one, flip up, and land on top of it, grabbing the wings to control it. The others swarmed towards him in an effort to attack, but Sonic's feet were too fast, rapidly dismantling each of the robots with his kicks. He then realized how far he was behind the _Tornado,_ and he forced the robot to fly faster to catch up.

Danny knew that he shouldn't while flying a super fast biplane, but he had to stare. "Chris… what the hell just happened?" All logic just seemed to fly out of the window- his best friend just transformed into Sonic the Hedgehog after jumping off of a plane and into a firefight with robots.

"Swift happened," Miles spoke up, getting Danny back into reality. Danny focused on his flying as Miles explained, "You see, back a couple weeks ago when Swift and I entered your lives, we also brought that watch you saw with us- The Chaos Morpher that was almost complete at the time. I was exhausted after completing it, so I gave the Morpher to Chris to hold onto. And it turned out to be a good idea, as Chris and Swift are compatible with each other, and Sonic was needed to defeat that robot that attacked you guys."

"…So," Danny asked after taking all of this information in, "my friend is a superhero because of technology you made, and he never bothered to tell us, his friends who have known him for years?" Miles noticed the anger in his tone. Well, if your friend had been given super powers and has been living a double life behind your back, you'd probably be at least a _little_ ticked off.

"Funny thing about that," Miles answered. "We sort of bound him to secrecy, like I'm going to bound you. And Chao promises can only be broken if deemed necessary- and right now, I'm considering this a necessary move, as Chris is probably in Sonic's head, thinking that you may be able to help us in our upcoming mission." Now this peaked Danny's interest.

"Engage autopilot," Danny simply announced. The plane then started to fly itself, allowing Danny to look Miles in the eyes. "What do you mean, 'upcoming mission?'" the young pilot asked. Miles looked dead serious as he got ready to explain.

"What I'm about to offer you is to be kept top secret at all times. If you tell anyone, I may be forced to erase your memory and the person or people you tell as well- and don't think that just because I'm a Chao I can't as long as I obey Chao code. This is something we're taking to the grave- whether it raises us to the gates of heaven or damns us to the flames of hell will depend on our success. But if all goes well… we may be able to give you the same ability as Chris has. Here's the story…."

Back with Sonic, he was holding onto the Egg Beetle (he just made up the name out of boredom) for dear life. _'Okay,'_ Chris admitted, _'maybe jumping out of a plane wasn't the smartest idea.'_

'_**Well, we don't know if Danny's plane has any weapons on it,'**_ Swift argued. Changing the subject, Swift noted, _**'Speaking of Danny… have I ever mentioned how my Chaos Sense works?'**_

'_You think after two weeks,'_ Chris sarcastically replied, _'that would have been one of the first abilities of yours that you would have taught me. So… how does it work, anyways?'_

'_**Let's start with something basic,'**_ Swift began. _**'Your ears… concentrate on nothing else but your sense of hearing.'**_ Sonic closed his eyes, taking deep breaths while holding onto the Egg Beetle. He heard sounds all throughout the sky despite the air turbulence. He heard the propeller of the _Tornado,_ the roar of the thrusters of the robot he hitched a ride on, part of the conversation Miles and Danny were having… and the sound of a second thruster coming behind him.

Sonic turned around, and saw a missile heading his way- a GUN jet plane Sidewinder Missile, to be exact. "HOLY-!" Sonic yelled before jumping off of the Egg Beetle, and using the Battle Scanner to lock onto the _Tornado_ just as the Sidewinder slammed into the Egg Beetle. The resulting explosion actually propelled Sonic forward enough to allow him to use the Homing Attack to the _Tornado,_ barely grabbing the edge of the bottom left wing.

As Sonic attempted to pull himself up, Danny asked, "Are you okay, Chris?" Sonic looked up, and saw Danny offering his hand. "You _are_ Chris in there, right…?"

"Um yeah," Sonic awkwardly answered as he was pulled into the copilot's seat. "Thanks Danny, I owe you one." Danny then whapped him on the head. "What was _that_ for!?"

"That was for doing something stupid and jumping out of a plane!" the pilot yelled. "How did you plan to get safely on the ground!? I mean, you may have a healing factor according to Miles, but have some common sense! There is no way that you would survive a fall from five-hundred feet in the air without a parachute!"

There was only one key thing in that Sonic caught onto in that rant. "…Miles told you everything?"

"Every single detail about the mission you signed up for," Danny answered. "To be honest, Chris, I'm pretty hurt. If Helen and Frances knew that you were risking your life fighting off killer robots, dodging missiles, outrunning cops, and trying to find seven gemstones before GUN or a mad scientist and they were left out of it, I'm willing to be they wouldn't be able to forgive or trust you, again. Not because you lied to them, but because they would know that while they're just sitting there helpless, you're probably getting yourself killed. Nobody likes it when secrets are kept from them. But… you had a pretty good reason to keep all of this secret- if GUN or this Dr. Robotnik guy got their hands on these 'Chaos Emeralds' that Miles told me about, then the world would probably burn. And if the mass public knew, there would be riots and wars all over the planet. The reason you kept it secret was so that we didn't have to worry about it."

"That," Sonic added, "and I was kind of forced to at the risk of the technology falling into Robotnik or GUN's hands. Speaking of GUN… where did that missile come from?"

"Guys," Miles announced, "we've got bigger bogies!" Both Sonic and Danny turned around, and did not like what they saw. About six GUN fighter jets were trailing them… and didn't exactly look like they were in any escort formation. In fact, they were more likely in attack formation.

"_Attention unidentified aircraft,"_ a woman's voice announced to the group on an open radio channel. _"We have reason to believe that you are carrying a hostile unit. By the order of Colonel Passer, you must land and prepare to be searched. Failure to comply and we'll shoot you out of the sky. We request that you reply immediately."_

Danny looked at Sonic, remembering what Chris said earlier. Do not stop flying the plane, no matter the consequences. Danny picked up the radio, and asked, "Out of curiosity, ma'am, what exactly should I be looking for with this hostile unit?"

"…_Pilot, have you not been watching television?"_ the woman asked, getting annoyed._ "It's Sonic the Hedgehog! He may have escaped onto your plane after seeing it and jumping off of Robotnik's robot! For your safety, you must land right now! I promise we'll go easy on you."_

Miles, looking at the missiles under the planes' wings, announced with a swirl over his head, "Somehow, I entirely doubt that they'll be easy on us." Turning to Danny, he sighed, "It's a shame I don't know how to fly a plane, otherwise I'd attempt to take control of this situation. Now, I would have given you a bit more time to decide, but-"

"I don't need anymore time," Danny answered, shocking each of them. "After you told me about all of this, I took the time we had before GUN started to follow to consider my options. This Robotnik guy- I don't know who he is, but he's pretty damn cruel to try to kill people, especially my friends. But GUN? They have the possibility to be even worse. And your mission seems like a suicide mission for anybody, as you're probably going up against the most skilled warriors, greatest minds, dangerous criminals, and strongest governments in the world. But, if I had to choose the least of three evils… then it would be with you guys."

Sonic then asked, "Does that mean…?"

"Yep," Danny grinned. "If you're involved, Chris… then I may as well tag along!"

Inside Sonic's mind, Swift was celebrating. _**'All right! We have a pilot for the team!'**_ the Chao cheered. _**'Now, onto more pressing matters… ditching these GUN flyboys!'**_

"It's good to hear you're with us," Sonic announced. "But we have a new problem… how you plan to get us away from GUN?"

"I haven't shown you the upgrades of the _Tornado,"_ Danny deviously grinned. "Disengage autopilot." He placed his hands back at the plane's controls, still grinning. Sonic and Miles both looked worried at his grin. He then remembered their "don't kill innocents" rule that Miles was forming. "Don't worry; I don't plan to kill GUN troops, despite how much they piss me off. Just shoot them out of the sky at five hundred feet and hope that they're smart enough to eject before impact."

"This thing has weapons?" Sonic and Miles both asked. Danny casually pushed a button, and the bottom of the plane opened a compartment containing a turret.

"The missile shot at you was a Sidewinder, right?" Danny asked. Sonic nodded. "Good, because I haven't installed the homing missile launcher, yet. Now strap in. We're taking them away from Station Square." Sonic obeyed just as Danny pulled back on the controls, and the plane went higher.

"_Pilot, you are doing the exact opposite of what we ordered,"_ the woman on the radio. _"If you do not land right now, then I will have my squad open fire on you."_ Danny, upon hearing those words, felt reminded of the situation that he was in after flying over Nevada. How he was shot down, brutally interrogated, and warned that if he ever did that again, they'd have to take away his pilot's license and lock him up. After thinking about that… Daniel Prower had only seven words that he wanted to say to her.

"You can't shoot what you can't catch." He then hit another button, and the _Tornado_ practically rocketed away, leaving several confused GUN pilots.

"…_Somebody find that plane, quick!"_ the woman ordered. All of the planes spread out, searching for the missing plane.

With the heroes, Sonic, Miles, and Danny automatically had to jerk their heads back by the sudden rush of wind into their faces. "Maybe we overdid it!" Miles yelled. "Kill the booster!"

"Yeah, I should!" Danny reached for the button, and pressed down on it. The three rocked their heads forward. "…Is everyone okay." He then heard the sounds of vomiting, and looked back at Sonic and Miles each hurling into their air bags.

"…We are never doing that again," Sonic moaned. Danny wretched at this sight- Chris had never been able to handle the five-star roller costar at Twinkle Park without vomiting not even a forth of the way through. Yet he just threw up _after_ going several hundred miles an hour in a biplane that was the equivalent of a jet. Perhaps becoming a Neo Mobian built up his immune system.

"You always had a weak stomach, buddy," Danny grinned. Sonic just shot him a cold stare. Changing the subject, Danny announced, "But now, we should be far enough to shoot down GUN and not harm Station Square."

"And we probably should do it in turns," Miles stated, pulling a second Chaos Morpher from his vest pouch. The Morpher, unlike the first one that was the color of the Pacific Ocean, was a light shade of orange with a bit of white on the bottom and top. "…That's what I'd say if I had a partner."

'_**Hey, Chris,'**_ Swift spoke up. _**'Put your hand on Miles' head.'**_

'_Why?'_ Chris questioned. _'Can you talk to him with contact?'_

'_**Well, I can try,'**_ Swift answered. Sonic just shrugged, and placed his hand on Miles' head, earning a question mark. _**'Hey, Miles… can you hear me?'**_

'_**Swift!?'**_ Miles asked, the question mark turning into an exclamation point. _**'How the heck are we doing this!?'**_

'_Good, your theory worked,'_ Chris grinned.

'_**Why are you two in my head?'**_ Miles questioned. _**'And how?'**_

'_**How is not important,'**_ Swift announced. _**'All you need to do is focus… I'm going to show you both something I've picked up by being around Danny long enough.'**_ The world around Sonic and Miles started to glow a dark emerald green. There were streams of light spreading around them, and those lights seemed to be flowing out and around them. _**'Welcome to True Chaos Sense, boys. This is how I keep track of my Emerald… and certain people.'**_ Upon hearing that, Chris instantly thought back to when Swift managed to tail Chuck from Maya to the States with little difficulty. Had he been using this the entire time?

'_So this is how you tracked my grandpa for a week with no real sense of navigation,'_ Chris realized.

'_**As impressive as this is,'**_ Miles announced, _**'you wanted to show us something about Danny?'**_ Swift somehow spiritually manifested himself, and floated over to Miles.

'_**If being Sonic long enough has taught me anything,'**_ Swift continued, _**'it's that every human on Earth has the same Chaos Energy output as a specific Chao. And using this unique ability I have, I can probably spend several lifetimes matching every human and Chao on the planet to make Chaos Morphers for. I am not doing that, though, because it would be a waste of reincarnations, and we don't need that many teammates.**_ (A/N: Random Chao Fact- when its time for a Chao to die, if they received proper care and had a good life, they will be enveloped in a pink chrysalis that leaves an egg that, when hatched, is a reincarnation of the very Chao that just died.)

'_**Moving along, I'm going to show Miles his partner for the second Morpher.'**_ Swift then pressed on Miles' head, and a yellow light floated out of the fox Chao… and towards Danny. Chris and Miles were shocked.

"Hey," Danny questioned, "are you guys okay? Don't tell me you have to throw up again!" Sonic and Miles both returned to reality, and looked at Danny.

"Uh, no," Miles stated. "We just had a rather interesting mind to mind conversation. And you won't believe what we've got to tell you-"

"Can it wait?" Danny questioned. Miles gave a look of confusion while Sonic looked back. There was a GUN plane behind them, and the missiles looked locked.

"Oh crap," Sonic breathed. He looked at the Morpher- not much time on it. He pulled out his Chaos Emerald, and recharged it like he did the first time he transformed. "We have to protect the plane- I'm not a huge fan of burning to death, especially when it involves heights of over fifty feet up."

"Alright, hang on!" Danny then pulled the plane up, and flew upside-down right over the GUN jet. As he was doing this, Sonic leapt out of the _Tornado_, and landed heavily right on the glass chamber sealing the cockpit to the opposing plane.

"This situation looks a little familiar," Sonic reminisced, drawing back a fist. It didn't take long for the GUN pilot to see what was about to happen in this scene- he and just about everybody in the entire country saw how this one Mobian hedgehog destroyed the Speed Team- particularly the way he defeated Hector Drags. "So, do you wanna save me the trouble, or should I do a repeat performance?"

The pilot decided to save him the trouble- not just because that it was easier on both of them, but because that the pilot thought that after the boost that the _Tornado_ made earlier and Sonic would have no time to react to the sudden cockpit opening that he would be taking the hedgehog out with little to no recovery time for any potential rescues to be made. So, he quickly reached over and pressed the eject button.

Like the pilot thought, Sonic didn't have enough time to react to this sudden chain of events. Well, even if he did, he did not have enough room to avoid being flung off of the plane by the glass flying off, much to the shock of Danny and Miles- who had an exclamation mark over his head, I may add.

Danny stared at the airborne hedgehog plummeting to his death. He didn't know what to do. Luckily, Miles already had a plan- jump into the front seat, force the Morpher onto Danny's wrist, and take the _Tornado_ down after Sonic. Once Danny recovered from the sudden brain freeze, he noticed Miles flying the plane. "Have you done this before?"

"Nope," Miles answered, "but there's a first for everything. Like how we're going to have to use that Morpher to save our buddies!"

"What!?" Danny asked. "Autopilot engage, and follow that hedgehog!" The plane oddly enough obeyed, letting Miles turn to Danny. "What do you mean by use this thing around my wrist?"

"Chris can turn into Sonic by combing his human body with Swift's chaotic soul," Miles summarized. "So, why shouldn't we? If Sonic's speed powers are influenced by Swift's abilities, then I'll be able to allow you to fly fast enough to catch Sonic and recover."

"And if this screws up?"

"Well, we're all going to be paste on the ground, but if we don't, our friends are going to die anyways." Danny didn't need another reason why not to do it- he was going to lose a best friend if he didn't, and how the hell was he going to explain to France and Helen that Chris died because of an act of selfishness on Danny's part by staying in the plane?

"If this doesn't work," Danny warned Miles as the two stood up, "I will see you in hell!" Without anything else, the duo jumped out of the plane, Danny yelling, **"Chaos Soul, Take Flight!"** Miles disappeared in a yellow-orange light as Danny started to transform, gaining fox ears, three long strands of fur at the top of his head, two long tails, and his eyes being a clear sapphire blue.

Back with Sonic, he was falling fast. He couldn't see how close he was to the ground, as the wind was rushing into his face and his sunglasses weren't over his eyes, so the air resistance was forcing his eyes shut. _'Okay,' _Chris admitted,_ 'that was a _really_ bad idea to offer him a choice."_

'_**Ya think!?"**_ Swift sarcastically remarked. _**'You know, if I didn't do land based missions most of the time, I'd say this is an ironic way to die.'**_

Suddenly, Sonic was quite literally jerked out of his thoughts by a tug on his leg. Sonic then opened his eyes to see that he was somehow floating in midair. He looked up, and saw a large, two-tailed, blue-eyed, yellow-orange humanoid fox spinning his tails rapidly like a propeller. The fox was wearing a pair of flight goggles perched on his forehead, dark brown cargo pants, a tool belt around his waist, a pair of tan work gloves, a light yellow vest over a white t-shirt with the fox's face on it, and a pair of boots that were red in the back and white in the front. Sonic was so shocked, that he barely had enough time to catch the Chaos Emerald still in his pants pocket.

"You know," the fox began in a voice that sounded like Danny's, yet at the same time wasn't exactly like him, "you _really_ need to actually think about how you're going to get back in the plane after you defeat our enemies."

Sonic gasped. "Danny? Miles?"

"I guess I'm the mix of the two," the fox answered, ascending to a decent height. "This Chaos Morpher stuff is actually true."

'_**Why wouldn't it be?'**_ Swift chuckled. _**'I mean, Chao are rumored to be aliens who brought seven supernatural gemstones that could destroy the entire world if we don't do anything about it. This makes sense somewhere.'**_

'_I can hear that, you know,'_ Danny announced. Now both the fox and Sonic were shocked. _'Whoa… how can I do that?'_

'…_**This is just a theory,'**_ Miles announced, _**'but since physical contact between us earlier when we used Chaos Energy allowed all of us but Danny to mentally communicate, since there are two Mobians in physical contact when exposed to a source of Chaos Energy, we can all talk telepathically.'**_

'_Cool,'_ Danny and Chris agreed. The _Tornado_ was coming back to pass under them. The two Mobians landed in the seats, and the fox shut off the autopilot.

"…We can't risk doing that again," the fox announced. "If any more GUN pilots show up, we're taking them down my way. We're just shooting them down in self-defense, and retreating back to the lab."

"Yeah," Sonic agreed, looking around. "Let's try to get out…oh crap." The fox turned around, and saw another GUN plane- no, _three_ GUN planes tailing them.

"Hang on!" the fox yelled, pulling up yet again. The planes followed the _Tornado,_ trying to get a lock on the plane. The pilot of the small plane knew what would happen if he sat still for but a few seconds- and he didn't like the sound of being blown to bits by a homing missile.

"_Alright,"_ the woman's voice yelled over the radio, _"this is _seriously_ your last chance to surrender yourself and land. I will not hesitate to kill you- my unit has been ordered to eliminate Sonic the Hedgehog at all costs! I'm not about to let some flyboy like you get in the way of my duty."_ The fox casually picked up the radio.

He casually replied, "I don't exactly think I would have tried to outrun you the first time when you had seven jets on my tails if I was interested in landing."

"_Wait… Tails!? As in, you have more than one tail!? You're just like that Sonic we've been chasing!"_

"Yes, yes I am," the fox boy smiled. "…You can call me Tails." The fox boy, now known as Tails, grinned- if only he could see the shock on her face. Well, he wasn't about to let the sudden shock go to waste- Tails preformed yet another loop while all three pilots were distracted, and got behind them. "Have a nice day," he breathed into the radio before jamming down on the gun's trigger, shooting out the first plane's engine. Sonic watched, stunned as their second GUN plane went down, and the pilot ejected.

The two GUN pilots recovered from their first shock immediately after they saw their buddy's plane going down in smoke, and attempted to get out of the _Tornado's_ line of fire, but to no avail- Tails had kept shooting, hitting one of the plane's in the wing, and the other's engine, having that one join its fallen comrades.

"_You're an excellent pilot,"_ the female GUN pilot complimented Tails. _"To think we haven't noticed a guy like you."_

"Are you about to tell me that if we met under different circumstances, I could be a great GUN pilot?" Tails casually asked while turning his plane in the opposite direction of her turn.

"_No,"_ the female pilot replied, shocking Tails a little bit. _"Even if we met under different circumstances, remember that you're still like Sonic. You're an outcast in this world of ours… so I probably would've been ordered to kill you, even if it weren't for the hedgehog."_

'_**Chris,'**_ Swift finally spoke up, _**'we need to hurry this up and help take her down so we can retreat to the lab without drawing any attention to ourselves. Any ideas?'**_

'_Just one,'_ Chris replied, _but I don't like it.'_ Since Swift and Chris shared a mind, Swift didn't even need to be told the plan.

'_**Dude,'**_ Swift yelled at him, _**'that plan is too risky, even for me! We're either going down in flames or breaking every bone in our bodies!'**_

'_I'm not getting any better ideas from your half of the mind!'_ Chris retorted. _'Besides, it's the only way Danny and Miles are _guaranteed_ an escape, and they might have time for us.'_ Swift reluctantly agreed to the plan, and Sonic turned to the pilot of the _Tornado._

Sonic announced, "Hey, Danny… no, Tails." The fox boy looked at his hedgehog friend in confusion. "Can you fly me over her plane?"

"What?" Tails gasped at the question. "What are you up to!?"

"I don't doubt that you can take that pilot in a fair dogfight," Sonic replied. "But if we don't either finish it quickly while her wing is pierced or distract her, she may call for back-up. And we need to get back as quickly and quietly as we can manage." Inside Tails' head, Miles instantly picked up.

'_**I get it!'**_ Miles realized. _**'Sonic jumps on the plane and removes the radio or removes the pilot out of the situation- preferably the radio.'**_

'_With one of those two options gone,'_ Danny concluded, _'she can't call the rest of the pilots to her position for back-up to give chase!'_

'_**We'll have to pick up Sonic,'**_ Miles noted, _**'but we need out of this mess soon, and this **_**is**_** the fastest way.'**_

Tails noticed that the _Tornado_ was directly facing the GUN plane, which was about two football field's length away from them. _"I admit you were a good opponent,"_ the female pilot announced over the radio. _"But I really need to bring this cat and mouse game to an end. Goodbye, Tails."_ She then pressed a button, and a Sidewinder missile flew from under the undamaged wing.

Now, most people would think that you couldn't beat a homing missile with a machine gun. Well, it _really_ depended on the missile part of the equation. If it's a Sidewinder, then if you shot the warhead, you'd blow it up. And that's exactly what Tails did, much to the shock of the GUN pilot as the _Tornado_ passed through the smoke overhead of her, dropping some not-so-friendly cargo in the form of a smirking blue hedgehog.

"Sorry, lady," Sonic apologized as he landed on the cockpit, axe-kicking _straight through the glass._ Sonic then saw who was chasing him through the skies- a woman in her mid-twenties with short, light brown hair, shock-filled sky blue eyes, lightly tanned skin, and soft features of her face dressed in a traditional GUN uniform. She reached for the Glock pistol that was in her side pouch, but Sonic was faster, grabbing her hand with one of his own, and grabbing the gun with the other, pointing the firearm at her.

Realizing that she was outmatched by this hedgehog and the mysterious new ally of his, the woman looked at Sonic with a mix of fear and anger in her eyes. "…Well?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes. She questioned, "What are you waiting for? This is the part where you pull the trigger." Sonic removed the safety from the gun as the pilot closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

_**BANG!**_

The woman felt no pain… odd, when you just got your head blown off. However, when she opened her eyes, she saw the hedgehog pointing the smoking pistol at what used to be her plane's built-in radio. Sonic removed the clip of ammunition right in the woman's lap, and blew out the smoke. He casually threw the gun out into the open sky, and placed a calling card in the hand he was still holding before climbing out of the cockpit, leaving the woman to stare at the calling card.

Sonic started to travel to the plane's right wing when he saw the _Tornado_ coming from behind the plane, shooting out the last engine. Sonic turned toward the cockpit to see the woman ejecting from the plane, still staring at the card. Sonic gave her a mock salute before jumping on the passing wing of the _Tornado._

(A/N: THIS MARKS THE END OF EXTREME AIR-O-VISION. YOU MAY NOW RELAX FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE EPISODE.)

---

**Chuck's Garage- 18:21**

"So," Chuck began while looking at Danny's Morpher, "we now have another ally in the battle against Robotnik." They were all back at Chuck's place- Sonic and Tails had returned to normal hours ago (although Tails had trouble deactivating his Chaos Morpher), and were going over the battle.

"Yeah," Chris yawned, lying on the couch. "Danny saved my life a few times today, and you should have seen him dogfight as Tails." He looked over to Karin, who was finishing up examining the two Chao while Danny watched in interest.

"Well, Miles," Swift casually smiled, "do I know how to pick them, or what? Danny's the perfect second recruit and a good partner for you to talk geek with." Miles gained a swirl over his head in annoyance, while Danny coldly stared at the hedgehog Chao.

"My only concern about all of this," Tanaka spoke up, "is that you all neglected the falcon robot that attacked the city."

"I know," Danny sighed. "While we were dealing with those four pilots, the others went after the falcon and destroyed it… at least that's what the news reports from this early evening said."

"Well," Chris admitted, "we can't be the heroes all of the time…." He thought back to that female pilot he met. She had just stared at the calling card as he left her. It was almost as if she was _expecting_ him to kill her. Almost as if she had been _forced_ to think that he would have placed a bullet in her skull if given even the slightest chance- that clip was mostly full when he last checked. But when he didn't, though… she was stunned. Like her life was just revealed to be a lie.

'_If that's just GUN's way of corrupting soldiers,'_ Chris thought to himself, _'then we _really_ need to hurry up before they find out about the Chaos Emeralds. …We're going to need all the help we can get for this while keeping it secret.'_

---

**Echidna Chao:** So, you're the ones who are responsible for all of this.

**Swift:** Responsible? Responsible for what?

**Echidna Chao:** Don't play that game! I know you two are Sonic, and I know you _stole_ the Emerald from Angel Island. If you know what's good for you, you'll hand it over before I get rough with you!

**Chris:** Emerald from Angel Island? Swift, do you know about this?

**Swift:** No! I don't even know where Angel Island is!

**Echidna Chao:** You're going to regret making me use force! My partner and I will beat the answers out of you if we have to! I swear it as the last of the Guardians!

**Swift: **Next time on _Sonic Chao Chronicles:_ Knuckles the Echidna, Guardian of the Master Emerald!

**Echidna Chao:** Don't get in my way!

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, I apologize for making you all wait for two months and make it seem like it's rushed towards the end. I was trying to meet a deadline I set myself. But hey, I add in a character that is considered an easter egg (imaginary holiday turkey to whoever guesses the character), and I leave the year with you guys expecting the third main Sonic hero (well, Shadow's an anti-hero, and even if he was a hero, he wasn't introducted until _Sonic Adventure 2)_. I've been too busy with real life... applying to college and all that. I'm almost temptd to not do these reviews... Kingdom Rider92, out!

Swift's Notes: Well, dang, if you're not in the mood (and since my birthday in the _Chao Chronicles_ universe is December 24th), I'll answer them! Where to begin...

**Salamander Hanzo:** ...Are you _sure_ you're not a zombie? Because I happen to know a few guys in the video game universe who deal with your kind on a regular basis. Anyways, thanks for liking us. And if you _are_ a zombie, thanks for not eating my brains. Though the others do say I'm kind of air-headed.

**SPark681:** Sorry to disappoint if Tails' first field mission with Sonic _was_ nothing more than a firefight with GUN. We were running low on time, and Tails will do actual physical feats later in _First Lap._ At least that's what I'm told. Chaos, I _hope_ Danny and Miles help me and Chris in the field. We have Knuckles to fight, next, and I don't want to do _that_ alone!

**White Hunter:** Well, I hope the first paragraph answered your hopes. We'll try to update in January... no promises, though, people.

**Zohaku:** Card Passer being evil... well, he and a few other characters that we've had slight cameos for already are a big reference to the _Sonic X_ comic. Just go look around and see if you recognize any names. In the meantime, yeah, Danny and Miles have some similarites. In the actual _Sonic_ franchise, Sonic and Tails are best friends. In _Sonic X,_ before Sonic showed up on that Chris' world, Danny was Chris' best friend. That's why Kingdom Rider92 decided that Miles and Danny were going to be partners. Some pairs you've already found that work. Moving right along.

**SuperSpeed:** Thanks for the compliment, and _love_ the penname! Now, despite how original it seems, I'm pretty sure that Kingdom Rider92 is _not_ the first _Sonic the Hedgehog_ fanfiction writer who has a group of Chao as the main characters, gives a human boy the ability to transform into an anthropomorphic hedgehog, or even attempts to rewrite _Sonic X _so it actually appeals to a more mature audience without throwing in buckets of blood, gore, intense language, or a sex scene. I doubt he'll be the last, though... they never are.

Well, it's been a fun few months since we got this started, and it's already the end of 2009. I was hoping for a little more screentime, but personal lives do get in the way of this website. See you in 2010, people, and have a happy holiday! This is Swift, signing off!


	11. Episode 5, Part 1

A/N: We now present _Sonic Chao Chronicles_ Episode 5, complete with 45% more Knuckles and 200% more 2010!

---

**Unknown Island near the Former Mayan Empire, Three Weeks Prior to Episode 1- 07:14**

A loud _smack_ was heard through the trees of an island that was off the coast of Guatemala. The thing about this island was that it was floating in midair off the coast of Panama. This wasn't a natural occurrence in the world, so many explorers attempted to figure out the eighth wonder of the world- Angel Island. Many had tried, but all have failed to discover the secret as to why the island floats.

A rather thin archeologist fell over with a black eye, courtesy of a tiny fist. That fist belonged to a red Power Chao with five dreadlocks hanging back behind his head with white line just above their tips, a white crescent near his neck, purple eyes that had a look of distrust, and a dark blue angry swirl over his head. The Chao did not look too happy at the five fallen archeologists.

"You know," the Chao began in a gruff voice, "you guys are making this a _lot_ harder than it has to be for both of us. I want you all off this island, and you guys aren't going to get past me. So, beat it before I beat you even more."

The guy that the Chao just punched struggled to get up, nursing his sore jaw. "…You're breaking Chao code, here!" the man managed to get out before wince in pain. "Chao aren't meant… to hurt humans!"

"Ah, Chao Code," the red Chao reminisced, turning away from the explorers. "You see, that whole part of Chao Code applies to wild Chao invited into human dwellings, and most home-raised Chao outside of DCS sponsored events. However, since I _am_ a Wild Chao and _you all_ are trespassing on the island that _my_ ancestors have been guarding since the _beginning of time…_" The red Chao turned to them with one of the most intimidating looks a small being the size of a one-year old Dalmatian puppy could give them. And that was pretty damn intimidating considering that the Chao just kicked all of their butts single-handed. "Neither your god nor Chao Code cannot save you here, especially not from the demon guardian."

As if on cue, a pair of blood red eyes appeared through the bushes right behind the red Chao, and a low growl rang out, starling all six of them (the Chao even had an exclamation mark over his head). The lead archeologist questioned, "W-what was that?"

"The beast is near," the Chao whispered, his swirl turning into a dot. "You've spent too much time on this island. I've been fighting a back and forth battle between that demon for as long as I can remember. Your presence must have drawn it out, and by that growl, its hungry. If you value your lives, you must quietly leave this island and never return."

Then, without warning, a pair of white, near fingerless hands (save for the two thumbs) reached out and grabbed the Chao, drawing him into the bush. In a few moments, the Chao emerged from the top of the bush, followed by a red, human-like monster with blood red eyes, razor sharp teeth, white hands, and a savage roar. The Chao jumped on top of the monster, forcing it back into the bushes. "Forget what I said earlier about quietly leaving!" the Chao yelled as he fought the monster. "Run! Run as far as your legs carry you! Your weapons are ineffective!" The group of archeologists did not need to be told twice. They ran screaming, leaving the Chao to defend himself.

The Chao poked his head out of the bushes, making sure that the group was gone. Once he was sure, he started chuckling, a heart above his head. "Oh, man, that never gets old! Who would have thought being a guardian would be so much fun!"

"They're gone, already?" a human voice questioned. The Chao jumped out of the bushes, followed by the monster. The so-called monster was actually wearing an ancient Mobian Echidna war mask designed to scare off enemies. It was one of the few remnants of ancient Mobian civilization left on Earth. The monster removed his mask to reveal that it was actually a human male about sixteen with tanned skin, rather well toned muscles, dark green eyes, and a slightly rugged look around his face. "Wow, we scared them off. So… what's the verdict, Spike?"

The red Chao, known as Spike, was an echidna Chao, one of the rarest Chao in the entire world. The reason? Well, when the Mobians were around, not enough echidnas were around to give DNA to the Chao in order to carry on their memory. So, eventually, through years of breeding between Chao, the echidna Chao started to run low, themselves. As for why Spike was named as such… he had this rather interesting ability with his fists.

Spike looked down at the ground, sniffing. "Darn, one of them pissed themselves at our little show. I guess you get the bigger pile of fruit, tonight, Ahaw Kin."

Ahaw Kin was the only human that was ever truly allowed on the island. The reason why? Well, Spike's parents, before they died, had sort of "adopted" Ahaw Kin years ago. Ahaw Kin wasn't even born when they found his father dead due to a freak accident and his mother in labor. Despite what they tried, Ahaw Kin's mother died in childbirth. They raised him to be the original guardian before Spike hatched. So, Kin and Spike instantly became close. That, and by the code Spike was bound by, he was to be aided by at least one human in his time as Guardian. And who better than Kin, who had practically learned the ways of the guardian by the time Spike was but an egg?

Later that day, Spike and Ahaw Kin were relaxing at the foot of a huge shrine. Spike looked up at the giant gemstone at the top of the shrine. It was the reason why he was here- his family was the direct descendants of the sibling of the leader of Chao that came to this planet. And as such, it was their responsibility to protect the gem from any and all harm. Now, many treasure hunters had tried to claim it, thinking it was worth a fortune. However that gemstone was actually worth more… it was worth every single Chao on Earth. It fell in with some of the greatest artifacts on Earth. The eighth ancient Wonder of the World:

The Master Emerald.

And Spike and Ahaw Kin were its guardians from their births until the day they die. Those two could probably live like this forever… but little did they know that fate had other plans.

---

**The Day after Tails Appears- 09:21**

Spike, once he stirred awake, could not believe his eyes. He and Ahaw Kin were in some bubble like thing along with some items that were foolishly discarded. The items included a discarded bandana, an open backpack full of clothes, a pair of purple ski goggles, a weird looking orb, and what appeared to be a blood red digital wristwatch. And, on the top of the backpack was the calling card of a certain hedgehog.

Getting annoyed by the glowing of the orb, Spike focused a bit of energy into his fists… and two short spiked claws manifested themselves on the Chao's knuckles. He jumped up, and brought both hands down on them, destroying the orb with ease.

Ahaw Kin jolted awake at the sound of breaking machinery. "Wha-!?" he asked, looking around as the bubble shield around them died. The two looked around- the island was a mess. Fallen trees… overturned rocks… the empty shrine that they had spent their lives guarding… something happened here. Wait… the shrine was empty. Spike rushed up the steps to the shrine, and indeed, the Master Emerald was gone… and he could see the Atlantic Ocean far greater than he could before.

It was a theory passed down by his ancestors. The Master Emerald was the one thing that was fueling the island's ability to levitate all the way in the air. The Master Emerald transferred its energy straight through the island via channeling it through the shrine. Should the massive gem so much as move but one inch off the shrine, it would send the _entire island_ plummeting into the sea. That means that the island fell through the night, crashing into the ocean.

"Somebody stole the Master Emerald and trapped us in that bubble," Spike concluded, an angry swirl over his head. "But how?" He then looked down at Ahaw Kin, who was focused on some rustling in the bushes.

---

**Episode 5: Knuckles, Guardian of the Master Emerald!**

---

**Station Square High- 10:35, 2 Days after Tails Appears**

There wasn't much happening on the outside of the school. Swift yawned as he looked out through the hedge. The Chao scratched his side, being poked by the inconvenient shrubbery. He then reached into his pocket, pulling out- instead of his usual dark blue Chaos Emerald- a black walkie talkie. Holding the radio in one hand, the Chao angrily pushed the "TALK" button, a swirl over his head. "This," Swift began to the person on the other line, "is the worst mission. EVER. Couldn't I have come here in the _afternoon?"_

"_Yeah, no,"_ Karin's voice replied over the radio. _"Hey, while I have to admit that I _did_ join this team willingly on my own, it was _your_ idea that we started recruiting. You've gotta take one for the team and stake out potential recruits."_

"Look, Doctor Naka. I love you like a second mother and all of that, I'm not sure putting me in some bushes just outside of the school's cafeteria was a good idea, though," Swift remarked, breaking a twig that was poking him in the side. "Any particular reason why I'm here while Miles is doing the cushy job of looking for Chao in Station Square's Chao Garden?"

"_Well,"_ Karin replied, _"if I'm correct, it is about 10:39 a.m. Californian time. That being said, the first student lunch break of Station Square High should begin right about… now."_ On cue, the bell rang, alerting Swift with an exclamation mark. _"Think you can last about two hours not eating anything and focus your Chaos Sense on some strong teens?"_ Swift looked at the students now coming outside to eat on the patio, completely ignoring him, actually calming him down.

Swift grinned, "No problem. I think that Frances girl that hangs out with Chris, Danny, and that Helen chick that Chris has a crush on and has that cute Amy Chao may be a good choice." Swift then heard giggling on the other side of the line. Realizing what he just said, he blushed, a swirl over his head. "You better not…!"

"_Oh, I'm telling Tanaka and Ella about this!"_ Karin grinned.

"Doctor Naka, please!" Swift half yelled, trying to avoid attention but get the former Chao doctor to not tell anybody about this.

"_Stay here and do this, and I might think about it,"_ Karin replied. Swift groaned, calming down. He then looked back to the crowed, closed his eyes, and began some deep breathing exercises. Swift began to meditate, no longer listening to the teenagers chatting about either their sex lives or the classes that they hate, but was locked within a world where he could pull the strings. The True Chaos Sense.

Swift easily felt the rush of the waves of Chaos Energy flowing past and around him. There were so many people for him to choose from for a new Morpher. There was that one senior football player that had all of those girls around him and had a full ride scholarship to the University of Southern California… there was the rather attractive raven black haired girl talking to her two friends about some web show that they do in their spare time (A/N: and no, it is not _iCarly, _if that's what you're thinking; that's in Washington, if I'm correct)… there was even that French foreign exchange girl whose personality was as unstable as a pile of crates not tied down in the back of a truck swerving back and forth. All interesting candidates.

But when he got to a certain redhead with freckles (since Chris, Danny, Helen, and Frances- who is the redhead I'm talking about- all had this lunch), he instantly stopped. There was a sudden force about Frances that prevented him from scanning her Chaos Energy. He checked. He rechecked. And just to be sure, he checked again. There was something that was preventing him from getting to know her Chaos Energy. This made him curious… he'd have to bring it up with the smarter people on the team, later. For now, though… he'd have to focus.

The only thing Swift hoped for was that Miles was having as much luck as he was, if not more.

---

**Station Square Chao Garden- 10:42**

It was not uncommon for a town such as Station Square to have its own Chao Garden. Chao Gardens were safe havens for Chao, Wild or Homegrown alike, to grow up, relax, and play, not a care in the world. Sometimes, humans came and played and adopted the Chao, allowing them a chance at a new life. It was the perfect side of the deal for Chao… well, a few Chao disliked it.

Miles was one of those Chao. He had- at one time in his life- been locked up in a Chao Garden in Panama. And considering his mutation, he was an easy pick for abuse by the other Chao, who teased him despite his superior intellect. That was until Swift came along, caught by Chao poachers and placed in the Garden. Many Chao had underestimated him, but that was before he showed them his footwork. The two, due to their common mutations, became fast friends, and worked together to escape the country. Miles had a slight discomfort in Chao Gardens from the experience, but he was more willing to take one for the team and search for Chao than Swift (who was easily bored).

So, under the guise of being let in to play with his fellow Chao by Ella (who had only agreed to help keep the team's cover because Chris was involved and she did not want to have to explain to his parents as to why Chris was either dead or in prison because he is Sonic), Miles started looking for possible candidates.

First, there was that snow white female seal Chao that was splashing around in the pool. She looked like she was enjoying herself, and was rather eagerly playing with a ball that had managed to find itself in the water. While it was a good thought to have a diver on the team (in case for some odd reason one of the Chaos Emeralds was underwater, as well as someone to recover Swift and Chris should Chris not be able to deactivate the Morpher before he started to drown), Miles knew that Swift would hate her- Swift disliked water in general, and having a Swimming Chao around Swift didn't help.

Second, there was a scarlet male armadillo Chao that looked pretty strong, easily shaking a rather huge tree commonly found in a Chao Garden. The Chao easily shook loose a few fruits for the other Chao around him, much to their delight. He was clearly generous… but then a stray Chao Fruit fell from the tree, landing straight onto the Chao's poor head, knocking him out. Miles might have to come back to this one, later. (A/N: Who's that Chao based off of? Get an internet for figuring it out!)

Wincing off that little incident, Miles turned to a yellow male mouse Chao with a patch of white fur in the shape of a crescent moon on his chest, looking over what appeared to be a picture book alongside a male lion Chao. Miles would have instantly thought the two to be too childish, but closer inspection revealed that the two Chao were actually looking over a picture book based off of Chao mythology. Either these guys were intellectuals exploring ancient Chao culture, or thieves… either way Miles knew that Swift would be easily overwhelmed by these two. (A/N: These Chao do belong to me, and expect to see these guys later. Especially the mousy Chao. So if anybody gets any ideas to use them, give me credit.)

Next, there was a mechanical Chao just hovering around, saying, _"HELLO, I'M OMOCHAO!"_ Miles found the little wind-up toy a mix of cute and creepy. Cute because somebody designed the little trinket to look just like a normal Chao, but creepy because it never blinked and the voice just sounded wrong. This gave Miles an idea to start creating robotic decoys should people catch onto the Chao part of their team.

There was another interesting Chao there- a male normal Chao wearing a bowtie. It was an unusual accessory for a Chao to have- Miles' jacket, work goggles, and utility belt made more sense as accessories for a Chao than a simple bowtie. However, all of the Chao who were in the garden on permanent watch unless adopted seemed to look up to this Chao. Miles decided that- if this Chao had any skills- it would be bad for the garden to recruit him.

This was going to be a problem. Save for the armadillo Chao (who still hadn't woken up), there wasn't a single Chao that could work with them. At least not here. Not in Station Square. Miles sighed; well, he may as well enjoy himself, as Ella said she'd pick him up in a couple hours.

---

**Chuck's Garage- 13:01**

Swift and Miles returned to the team's unofficial headquarters, one being confused, and the other depressed. Karin, dressed in a pair of black pants and a white loose t-shirt, looked at the duo of Chao with worry, since they both had swirls over their heads.

"Did something happen with scouting, you two?" Karin awkwardly began. "I've never seen you two be this depressed." It was true- Swift was almost always so upbeat, while Miles was always calculating.

"When I was at the school, I got distracted by something interesting," Swift explained. It was true- in the brief half hour of the lunch Frances was in, Swift had to have used his Chaos Sense and even his sunglasses multiple settings at least twenty times on her to try to measure the girl's Chaos Energy, but to no avail. It was as almost if Frances was on to him, and somehow developed a Chaos Energy Barrier (since Chaos can block Chaos, apparently). But that was impossible- not only had Swift, who had more than enough Chaos Energy to try to set up a barrier of the likes, had never succeeded, but there wasn't the technology on Earth to actually set up a barrier like that. So, there was only one other theory… Frances didn't have a single once of Chaos Energy in her body. But Swift could not believe that, either- there wasn't a living being on the planet who didn't have at least a tiny bit of Chaos Energy in their bloodstream. Even the _grass_ had Chaos Energy in it!

He originally thought to talk to Karin and Miles about it, but something about the incident was holding him back- like he would endanger her by even bringing her name up. So, he went with, "I found some people, but I didn't get too good of a chance to check out my true first pick of a recruit."

"Who is it?" Miles asked, his swirl turning into a question mark. "Helen and Amy?" Swift's face turned from his cyan blue to a rose red in not even five seconds.

"N-n-no!" Swift stuttered, barely able to get the words out. "I'm talking about Frances!"

"You mean the girl with the freckles that helped us fight off those Egg Pawns when we first came here?" Miles questioned. Swift, now back to his blue and the swirl that was over his head returned to dot form, nodded in response. "Oh… well, yeah. I see your logic in picking someone like her- we would need a strong fighter on the team to get us out of trouble besides you and Chris, and I'm sure Danny's not that tough. Man, now that I think about it, Power Chao like that armadillo Chao and lion Chao would've been good."

"So," Karin questioned to Miles, "if you found some good Chao, why are you depressed?" Miles then sighed.

"Well, the only good potential ones were those two, a seal Chao who liked playing in the water, a mouse Chao, and a normal Chao with a bowtie. Problems with each: I already said the seal Chao's problem with water and how it's a miracle if we can convince a certain hedgehog Chao to give him a sponge bath, so its not going to be easy relying on him becoming friends with a Chao that represents everything about his hydrophobia and refusal to learn how to swim; that armadillo Chao seems like a good idea, but he has somewhat of a clumsy nature, and I only had like five minutes to talk to him because he spent most of the time I was there knocked out by a Chao Fruit to the head; as for the bowtie Chao, I didn't want to leave the Chao Garden leaderless."

"What about the last two?" Swift questioned.

"Judging by what they were looking at," Miles replied, "they were either treasure hunter or thieves. I don't think we could trust them, but they may be the only ones who know about Chao lore in this town besides the members outside of this team."

"You know," Swift sighed in defeat, "maybe we ought to wait a while before we recruit anybody." Getting off the couch, he announced, "I'm going out."

"You can't leave, yet!" Karin stated, shocked by Swift's sudden decision to end the conversation. "I know we're all a little stressed by our lack of options, but we haven't heard any good ideas from you besides Frances!" That name only encouraged Swift to leave.

"I know, Dr. Naka," Swift replied, "but I have too much on my mind that talking won't fix. Besides, everyone deals with stress differently. Miles works on little gadgets… I go on hour-long runs." He then left the room, leaving Karin and Miles

---

**Station Square's Train Station- 13:26**

Little did Miles actually know, however, was that a human and Chao pair that _did_ know about ancient Chao lore had just stepped outside of Station Square's train station, and they were somewhat amazed by the sights. The human was a young man about sixteen, dressed in a dark brown vest over a red and white t-shirt, dark black jeans, white bandana hanging around his neck, dark brown moccasins (for comfort) on his feet, and a dark red wristwatch on his left wrist. The Chao was an echidna Chao wearing a pair of violet ski goggles that were dangling around his neck. Despite looking different, Ahaw Kin and Spike were still the same guardians.

Except for one thing: they were pissed off men on a mission. "So," Spike questioned, "_this_ is the town where that coward ran off to?" Spike, despite never leaving the island, wasn't distracted by the sights and sounds of an actual civilization. He was for focused on his goal.

Ahaw Kin, however, was easily stunned by the town. Being a human in a big city for the first time, it was breath taking to see so many of his own kind at once and what they lived like. Spike waved a tiny hand in front of Ahaw Kin, allowing the boy to regain his senses.

"S-sorry," the teen apologized. "I was just distracted, that's all." Looking around, seeing the confused stares of people, Ahaw Kin whispered, "I've never seen so many people at one time… and they're all looking at us." Spike sighed in half-annoyance, half-understanding; Ahaw Kin never directly scared people off the island. He was rather withdrawn and shy compared to Spike's direct approach when dealing with intruders.

"Well," Spike stated, "we should go, then… we have a guy to track down. That egg guy said he'd be around here." The two then walked away from the gathering crowd, who was still giving the duo odd looks. Instead of listening to their chatter, Spike was enwrapped in a conversation he had just yesterday.

---

**The Unknown Island- Yesterday Morning**

_Ahaw Kin stared as a large man with a red mustache stepped out of the bushes. The man politely bowed, "Greetings, young man. I'm glad to see you and your Chao survived the landing."_

"_Who the heck are you!?" Spike questioned as he jumped down from the top of the shrine to the ground. "Did you have something to do with this mess!?" The man just chuckled._

"_Actually," the man replied, "I'm the man who saved your lives." Pointing to the broken orb, he explained, "Last night, I came here to do some research on wild Chao as I heard that there were nocturnal Chao around the area, when a cyan blur passed by me, rushed up the shrine, and came back with a mixture of dark green. I couldn't see it properly because of poor lighting, but I saw enough- it even left that hedgehog shaped calling card you see there. After that blur left, I felt a huge tremor. I would have run for my life, had I not seen you two sleeping like logs. There was no way I could escaped with you two in toe, so I used one of my prototype inventions to generate a shield for you two, as well as give you some things."_

"_You mean the backpack?" Ahaw Kin questioned. "What for?"_

"_I didn't want you two to be empty handed, considering what happened, here." The man, pointing to the backpack, explained, "The backpack includes a change of clothes and fruit for you two. I figured it would be the least I could do." The man turned around, saying, "I'll see myself off." He started to leave, when Spike's dot turned into a swirl._

"_Wait," he questioned. "You mean that a _blur_ stole the gem my ancestors have been guarding for millennia!?" The man stopped in his tracks. "And how did you know that this-" he held up the hedgehog symbol as high as he could with his tiny arms to emphasize his point- "is a calling card?"_

_The man sighed in response. "I was hoping to keep this secret," he explained while turning around towards the two, "but between you two and me, I do know who that blur was. His name is Sonic the Hedgehog… he's in a place called Station Square, pretending to be a hero. That's all just a front so he can gather up objects called the Chaos Emeralds." Spike's swirl turned into an exclamation point._

"_The Chaos Emeralds…" Spike breathed. He had grown up on the stories of his ancestors… he knew all about them. He had to as the Guardian of the Master Emerald. Looking at the man, he questioned, "This Sonic guy is going after the Chaos Emeralds? How do you know?"_

"_I know because I have one of them," the man replied, pulling out a light blue gem. Spike simply stared at the gemstone, easily hypnotized by it. Ahaw Kin snapped his fingers in front of Spike's eyes, causing him to regain his senses. "I am currently competing with Sonic to gather all seven, but he already has two."_

"_But what does this have to do with the Master Emerald?" Ahaw Kin reasonable asked, confused by the man's words._

"_Simple," Spike replied, already knowing what the man would have to say. "The Master Emerald has the ability to control the Chaos Emeralds, reducing their power to absolutely nothing, despite them being sources of limitless energy. Whoever this Sonic guy is, he must have known that, and being a coward, took the Master Emerald so he wouldn't have to worry about other collectors using the Chaos Emeralds' powers against him."_

"_That's a plausible theory," the man agreed, looking like he's thinking about something. He then snapped his fingers like he just came up with a great idea. "Hey, you guys probably want your Emerald back, right?" Both looked at him in confusion. "Why not go after Sonic in Station Square, and force him to give up the Emerald? I'm about to head there, myself, and I could drop you off."_

"_You can take us, there?" Spike asked with an eager look to beat down Sonic. "…I'm game for a challenge, and I'll make sure he regrets setting foot on Angel Island. What about you, Ahaw Kin?"_

_Ahaw Kin looked a bit nervous about it. "We've never been off the island, before," the human boy pointed out. "And still, we don't know what this hedgehog is capable of." The man smiled at this._

"_Well," the man admitted, "I will be honest to you two; you're a bit disadvantaged by your opponent… but you can even the odds." Walking past them, the man bent down, and scooped up the watch. "This watch is actually a special device that will bond a human and Chao together to recreate the lost Mobian species."_

"_The Mobian species?" Spike and Ahaw Kin both questioned at the same time._

_I don't know how it will truly effect you, but you'll have abilities that will rival your opponent." Offering Ahaw Kin the Morpher, the man asked, "What do you say, boy? I'm offering you the chance of a lifetime."_

_Ahaw Kin and Spike looked at each other. "It is our duty as Guardians to protect and recover the Master Emerald at all costs," Ahaw Kin remembered his teachings. "I suppose bonding our souls is just one of those costs."_

---

**Back to Present**

"That Sonic guy has messed with the wrong Guardians," Spike announced, cracking his knuckles. "Now… where to start looking?"

"That egg guy said he would draw Sonic out, somehow," Ahaw Kin replied. "He never gave us any details." Just then, everybody stared in shock to see a light blue blur moving right past them, expertly jerking out of the way of bystanders. Spike, for a split second, locked eyes with the source of the blur- a dark blue hedgehog Chao- before it passed them and ran towards the downtown area.

Spike, remembering everything he was told by the scientist, spat, "Sonic." Ahaw Kin looked down at the echidna Chao, who explained, "That is the only guy that could be Sonic!"

"Okay," Ahaw Kin replied, looking at the path the blur ran. The two started to run towards that direction, ignoring the odd looks the people were giving them. The chase was on….

---

**Chao Card:** Spike

**Type:** Normal, Echidna, Power

**Known Powers:** Growing short claws on hands, super strength, decent speed, Chaos Sense equivalent to Swift's

**Equipment:** Goggles

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: No, I'm not letting Sonic and Knuckles kill each other just yet… anyways, welcome to 2010! Okay, I'll admit, all this hype, and I don't live up to it. Not even a single legit battle starts in this chapter! Well, that's why this is the second three part episode.

Making their long awaited debut, Ahaw Kin and Spike the Echidna Chao! Okay, I'm going to be honest, out of the three pairs of Chaos Morpher Users that are currently in the series, these guys are the ones that went through the biggest rewrite. See, the original concept was that Spike's name was Fists, and he was a guardian by himself that came to America, and came across a stereotypical high school jock with a grudge against Chris, giving them a personal reason for fighting Sonic after figuring out a series of pranks were done to him by Swift. However, I think that stereotype is overused by the time either _American Dragon Jake Long_ or _Danny Phantom_ came out with Jake and Danny's high school enemies being idiotic athletes. Also, I felt that the original human part that made up Knuckles didn't fit the actual personality well enough; Knuckles' intelligence is just slightly below Sonic's (due to his gullibility) and Knuckles is a little shy around women; the original character was more of an idiot who ran into missions headfirst. Hence, why I scrapped the original guy, and gave Spike a partner that was somewhat socially awkward due to this is his first interactions with normal people.

Anyways, I do believe it time for me to answer some reviews, as I let Swift have the crack at it, last time.

Mouse Chao's Corner: Ooh, ooh, until I establish myself as a main character, can I do it?

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Uh, sure, Edge… everybody; direct all comments to Edge until season two starts!

Edge's Corner: YAY! Welcome to Edge's Corner, where me and a random guest answer all of your comments in journal fashion. Since I'm debuting, Kingdom Rider92 will be my first co-host. Okay, first comment…

**To Salamander Hanzo from Kingdom Rider92:** Wow… never thought I'd see the day someone used the lyrics a popular song as a review. Cute and it made my day.

**Patrich11 from Edge:** "Hecka awesome?" One, that's funny, and two, I'm sorry that we disappointed you that Frances is _not_ going to be Knuckles. That is for three reasons: the first is we do not plan to perform any acts at gender bending. Second, according to Kingdom Rider92, Frances _already_ had a character picked out for her. Third, we just introduced the real pick for Knuckles in this chapter!

**Spark681 from Edge:** We try to keep him clueless of what really happened to the Master Emerald. His gullibility will be played. I'll let you all in a secret though. Who really stole the Master Emerald was- *insert a rather obnoxious noise, like a burp, or loud blow dryer long enough to cover what Edge has to say here* and a turkey bester. I know, that's pretty's jacked up.

**White Hunter from Kingdom Rider92:** I did look at some of your stories. I found the Homeward Bound one an ode to a classic odyssey.

**SuperSpeed from Edge:** Thanks for the compliment. But it was somewhat obvious that Danny would be Tails… remember that in the actual franchise, Tails' name is Miles Prower. We kind of hinted as to who would be who via their names.

**Zohaku from Kingdom Rider92:** Tails is my favorite Sonic character, too. In fact, when I was on deviantART, I came across an unfinished manga called _Tails Away_ by a guy named DarkSpeeds. As the title suggested, it was a comic about Tails and discovering his origins. The comic was canceled, but recently revived by an artist named Evan-Stanley. I recommend giving it a glance. I'm sorry that Knuckles didn't exactly appear. But he'll show up soon enough.

**Sozic from Kingdom Rider92:** There, I've updated. Alright? Now, calm yourself down. I'm sure we all have personal lives that are interfering with life. And gets the whip on deviantART away from me!

Kingdom Rider92: Okay, that should about cover it. And I'm in a great mood, because I just off midterms! Until next time, Kingdom Rider92 out!


	12. Episode 5, Part 2

A/N: Okay, so for anyone who was slightly disappointed there wasn't a fight scene yet… here you go!

---

**Human Card:** Ahaw Kin

**Occupation:** Guardian

**Known Relatives:** Parents (deceased, father of sickness, mother of childbirth, foster parents of natural causes), Spike (foster brother)

**Hobbies:** Treasure Hunting, rock climbing, making bets with Spike

---

**Station Square Park- 14:10**

Swift had stopped running after a while, and decided to relax on a park bench. He couldn't really think properly during his jog; there were too many people staring at his little run, but he remembered that with his speed, people could mistake him for Sonic. So, he went to one of the quietest spots away from the team that he could think of- the park.

Relaxing on a park bench, Swift sighed as he thought to himself, _**'I can't believe that I cannot read Frances. I've always been more than capable of scanning just about everybody else I've ever seen without much effort. But what's so dang special that I can't even get a reading?'**_

"HEY!" Swift's thoughts were interrupted by a shout. He looked up, only to see a certain echidna Chao marching up to the bench he was on, and the guy did not look happy.

"Can I help you?" Swift asked, jumping onto the ground to be at level with the echidna Chao.

"Don't play that game with me!" Spike growled, grabbing Swift by the front of his vest, causing an exclamation point over the hedgehog Chao's head. "I know that you know that I know that you have the Emerald. So, hand it over, and the most you'll get out of this situation is a broken arm. Refuse, and by the time I'm through with you, you'll be wishing to Chaos that you never came a hundred feet of the island!" Swift blinked at this.

"Oh," Swift smiled, "you're from South Island, too? It's nice to finally meet a fellow Southern Chao!"

"How stupid do you think I am?" Spike scowled, an annoyed swirl forming over his head. "If it's a beating you want, you can try to talk your way out of this." Swift's exclamation point turned into a question mark.

"So," he asked, "you're not a South Island Chao? And I was getting my hopes up." Spike drew back a fist, and punched Swift across the face, sending him straight into a tree.

Smirking while closing his eyes, Spike grinned, "That was only a _sample_ of the Guardians' strength. Unless you would like a five-course meal of the power of the long line of Guardians, I suggest you give up and hand over-" he was interrupted by a super fast punch, courtesy of Swift. The speed and the force of the blow sent Spike through a trash can in the park.

"I'm going to have to clean that up later," Swift muttered while looking at the damage. Turning to the trash covered Chao, he stated, "I have no idea what your beef with me is, but that punch wasn't called for."

"Wasn't called for?" Spike questioned while getting up, shaking the trash off of him. "Listen here, Sonic." Swift's eyes widened at the echidna Chao's knowledge of his secret identity, and an exclamation point appeared over his head. "You're either going to hand over the Master Emerald right now or so help me, it'll be more than just a punch to the face you'll be worrying about!" Swift's exclamation point returned to normal.

"Master Emerald?" Swift questioned. "I still don't know what you're talking about, guy. Though the real question is how do you know about me?"

"That witness I was talking about?" Spike reminisced. "He said that you and he were enemies, and you stole the Master Emerald to prevent the Chaos Emeralds from being used against you in case someone gets the other four left that you and he don't have. Now, I'm not going to repeat myself… Hand. The Master Emerald. OVER."

"I don't have it, though," Swift insisted, sounding even more confused. Spike, annoyed by Swift's attempts to convince him that he did not have the Master Emerald, leapt at Swift, fists ready. Swift jumped out of the way, letting the bench be crushed under Spike's power. He turned around, and tried to roundhouse kick the echidna Chao, only to have Spike block the blow with his right arm. The two stared into each other's eyes before jumping back, and dashing straight at each other, fists blazing.

---

**Chuck's Garage- 14:28**

Chris and Danny walked into the living room, bored after a long day of school, to see Karin and Miles working on Karin's laptop. "Hey, Dr. Naka," Chris greeted her. "Where's grandpa?"

"Chuck was called to his lab downtown," Karin replied, not looking up from her laptop. To Miles, she said, "Maybe we should go with the seal Chao, after all. We could finally convince Swift to actually attempt to learn how to swim so it doesn't hold Chris back when he's Sonic, and he could always use a playmate."

"What are you guys talking about?" Danny asked, looking at the laptop's screen. It showed the official website for Chao in Station Square that were up for adoption. Miles turned to them, a smile on his face.

"After our minor victory over GUN a couple days ago," the fox Chao explained, "Chris thought it would be best for our team to get at least one more member before we start our international mission to gather the remaining Chaos Emeralds. So, we were looking into potential recruits today, with Swift scouting at the school and me at the Garden."

"Wait," Danny questioned to Chris, "Swift was at our school and I didn't notice?"

"I didn't know he was at the school, either," Chris replied. Looking around, he noticed one thing was missing. Swift.

"Speaking of Swift," Danny continued, "where is the little guy?"

"On one of his usual runs," Miles replied. "Whenever Swift has been ticked off, he vents his anger by jogging around, trying to clear his mind of all stress. Don't worry, though; his runs last about a couple hours, anyways, and it gives him an opportunity to check out spots in Station Square we haven't looked." Chris just sat down on the couch, grabbing the remote before turning on the television. He did not like what he saw when he turned to the news.

The reason? Well, I would say something funny, here, but I haven't given a certain reporter any love for the past few episodes. So, here's Scarlet Garcia.

"_Breaking news,"_ Scarlet Garcia announced as she watched the madness unfold in Station Square's park. _"What seems to be two mutated Chao are fighting to the death in our local park. So far, there has been about two thousand dollars of property damage done to the playground."_ As if to prove her point, she walked out of the way of the camera to reveal the playground that looked like it just went through a hurricane, as well as two blurs- one red and one blue- bouncing off of each other.

"Hey," Danny gasped while looking at the bent swing set, the flattened jungle gym, the broken monkey bars, and the shattered seesaw. "I happened to like that park when I was little!"

"_We've gotten a picture ID on the two Chao,"_ Scarlet continued, obviously not hearing Danny's complaint. The camera showed an angry red echidna Chao trying to punch a dark blue hedgehog Chao who ducked out of the way. Swift. _"Man, is it just me, or has this city become a magnet for trouble? The police are not authorized to deal with insane Chao like this. It is not known why they're fighting, but someone should stop this. I'm Scarlet Garcia, Station Square News."_

Tanaka, who had walked in on this report, sighed. "Should I start the car, Master Chris?"

"Not yet," Chris simply replied. Everybody looked at him in shock at his answer, Miles even getting an exclamation mark over his head.

"Dude," Danny questioned, "what do you mean 'no?' Swift's either going to get himself killed or cause a lot of property damage if we don't stop him!"

"That's the thing, though," Chris answered, a sense of leadership in his tone. Although Chuck was the actual leader of their little team, whenever he was gone, it usually fell on Chris to take charge of whatever situation they're facing. "If we dealt with Swift in person, then we would be discovered and facing every two-bit greedy organization with either an army or a huge supply of resources at their fingertips in the world in a race for the Chaos Emeralds when our actual mission starts. If we're going to do this, we have to do it discreetly."

"I see," Miles smirked as his exclamation returned to normal. Looking at Danny, he grinned, "We're finally taking to the field, Danny!"

"What!?" Danny gasped, surprised by what Chris meant. "Chris, you want _me_ to break up the fight!?"

"To keep ourselves discreet," Chris explained, "you're the only option. We haven't found anybody else on the team to do this, and I can't use the Morpher when Swift is anywhere farther than ten feet away from me." Sensing Danny's nervousness, Chris grinned, "You took out three-count them- _three_ GUN planes without batting an eyelash. All you have to do is fly downtown, grab Swift, and fly to wherever you have to in order to hide from the police or any news reports until we pick you guys up."

"It's true," Miles replied. "I may not be as _fast_ as Swift on the ground, but I'll be damned if I haven't started to catch up to him over the years by at least the air."

"It's not that, though," Danny responded. "I still haven't fully figured out the Morpher's on and off thing!"

"Have Swift deactivate for you," Chris replied. "I'm sure he'll do it. Just name the place you want us to pick you up from." Danny sighed at this statement.

"Just pick me up from behind the Smoothie Shack." Turning to Miles, he activated his Morpher. **"Chaos Soul, Take Flight!"**

---

**Station Square Park- 14:53**

Swift dodged yet another blow from Spike, who just made a Chao fist sized dent in the slide. Swift was covered in a few bumps and bruises, and wiped a bit of blood from his mouth. "Man," the hedgehog Chap panted as an annoyed swirl appeared over his head. "You're a… stubborn Chao… aren't you?"

Spike grinned, showing a few bloody teeth- Swift had kicked him hard in the mouth earlier, breaking the seesaw in the process. Other than that, he looked fine. "Could say… the same… about you, Sonic," Spike replied.

"I guess… you aren't… going… to listen," Swift sighed. He curled into his ball form, and started to spin at a wild pace, while Spike's claws manifested themselves. The two were about to charge at each other in a potential fight to the death…

Only for two large Power Rings (A/N: God, I've been meaning to bring these back into the story for a while, now!) to fly out of nowhere, and latch themselves around both Chao, stopping Swift mid-spin while Spike fell to the ground in shock. Both of them had exclamation marks over their heads at the sudden interruption of their battle. "Okay you two," Tails scolded them as he landed; strapping what looked to be a white, hi-tech rifle on his back, Tails added, "that's enough senseless horseplay for one day."

"Wha…?" Spike questioned while looking at Tails walking over to Swift and picking him up by the Power Ring, where he was struggling to get free. Upon seeing Tails' namesakes spinning before he went airborne, Spike yelled with a swirl over his head, "H-hey! I'm not done with him, yet!"

"Yes, you are," Tails corrected as he turned around. "You may wanna hightail it out of here when that Dummy Ring's paralysis wears off in a few minutes before the authorities arrive- they don't like creatures with superpowers like us." Spike growled as Tails continued to fly away.

"You can run, hedgehog," Spike yelled at Swift, who was still confused by the whole situation, "but I'll be damned if you can hide from Spike, Guardian of the Master Emerald!" Tails sighed at the echidna Chao's little tantrum. He clearly had no idea just who he was messing with. Did he not know that if Chris was around, that Chao would have been on a one way trip to the hospital in a body bag? Still, that Master Emerald thing sounded like something he should talk to Chuck about, being new to the whole thing.

'_**We rule,'**_ Miles grinned. _**'That Dummy Ring gun works like a charm!'**_

'_It's a good thing my dad had been working on a gun shaped disk launcher, anyways,'_ Danny agreed. _'And these- Dummy Rings, as you call them- have the ability to paralyze basic motor skills, which is useful. Good thing we stopped at my house for this gun!'_

A few minutes later, Swift could finally uncurl himself as the Ring around him disappeared into nothingness, so he stretched out in Tails' arm. He then awkwardly looked at the rifle on the kitsune's back. "…New gadget?"

"Yep," Tails calmly answered. "My human side's dad made it. He doesn't know about us, but he has a few prototype disk launchers at home, so he shouldn't miss one or two."

"And you loaded it with Miles' Dummy Rings?" Swift asked, a question mark above his head. Now, Miles had made two types of Power Rings. The first set of Power Rings were the ones that stimulate Chaos Energy throughout the user's body for three minutes a ring, however it made them exhausted almost immediately after the ring is used up. The second set is the result of Miles accidentally mixing a bit of snake venom into the materials he dips the Power Rings in to allow Chaos Energy to flow through them. When Swift first tried it, he was paralyzed for three minutes, not given his usual boost of energy. So, whenever Miles needed Swift to hold still but Swift wasn't cooperating, he'd poison the Rings and throw them at the hedgehog Chao when he was least expecting.

"Had to stop you guys one way or another," Tails replied. "You two were on the news… again for your part." Swift rolled his eyes- that meant that he was going to hear it from Chris, Tanaka, Ella, Karin, and even Chuck whenever he got home. "But we're going to get smoothies and you're going to help me get out of Morph."

"You still haven't figured it out, huh?"

"Shut-up. It's my first time in the field."

"And you didn't screw up so far."

---

**Smoothie Shack- 15:28**

Everyone on their team slurped their smoothies in silence, and all attention was clearly on Swift. Danny had returned to normal, thanks to Swift telling him the only ways to deactivate the Morpher manually in Laymen's terms: "Hit the big, shiny center, and you're normal!"

Chris was the first to speak. "What the heck were you thinking getting into a fight with another Chao, Swift?"

"Okay," Swift began, a swirl over his head. "First off, that red guy threw the first punch when I told him I had no idea what he was talking about… and he isn't from South Island."

"Don't try to change the subject," Karin replied. "I don't care who threw the first punch, all that we need to know is that you and he decimated a children's playground for no reason."

"And that he knows that I'm half of Sonic," Swift added.

"Right," Karin nodded. She took another sip of her strawberry banana smoothie, but her brain caught up with what Swift just said. She then spit out what was in her mouth on the table they were sitting at (much to the disgust of Chris, Tanaka, Danny, and Miles), and stared at the Chao. "What!?"

"Yep," Swift stated as the swirl over his head disappeared. "There's an echidna Chao- that I could've totally handled on my own, mind you- out there that knows I'm Sonic… or part of him."

"Why the hell didn't you tell us this the second we got here!?" Tanaka whispered to the hedgehog Chao, annoyed and scared that someone knows their secret and isn't in their inner circle.

"And risk our secret out even more in line as well as not get smoothies?" Swift questioned. "Hell no! Anyways, he's accusing me of stealing an Emerald from an Island… but I've grown up with my Chaos Emerald, so he's mistaken. Still, he'll try to hunt at least me down, so as long as I can draw him in, we can take him, easy."

"There you are!" a familiar voice spoke up. Swift's swirl over his head returned with a vengeance- he didn't need any hints as to who was behind him.

"Haven't you caused me enough karma damage, today?" Swift questioned while turning to see Spike, this time with Ahaw Kin- who knew Spike like a brother, and opt watched the battle from afar, only getting involved if it was too much for Spike to handle.

"I haven't finished kicking you around for stealing the Emerald!" Spike growled. Looking at the others, he stated, "And you have accomplices in stealing it, as well. Don't think you can overpower me in numbers."

"H-hey," Chris interrupted, noticing the looks they were receiving. "Are you guys new, here? Why don't we introduce ourselves over a couple of smoothies? Mr. Tanaka, could you…?"

"Yes, Master Chris," Tanaka agreed, knowing what Chris was doing- trying to distract everyone by changing the subject. Once Chris was sure that everyone was ignoring them before inviting Ahaw Kin and Spike to sit. The two did so, sitting directly across from Chris and Swift respectively. Chris easily noticed the murderous look that the echidna Chao was shooting his way, and mentally thanked god that looks couldn't kill. Soon enough, Mr. Tanaka returned with their smoothies, and everyone drank in silence. Almost a half hour passed before Chris got comfortable enough to speak.

"…So," Chris awkwardly whispered, trying to get on good terms with their unexpected guests that may or may not know their secret. "Who are you guys?"

"The two Guardians who are going to kick your asses if you don't agree to hand over the Master Emerald right now, that's who!" Spike growled.

"See?" Swift spoke up. "He's crazy and accusing us of something we didn't do."

"You're on thin ice, here, Sonic," Spike spat. "And I'm done negotiating, here. I'm giving you twenty-four hours to hand over the Master Emerald, as we have been told that it was you stole it. If the Master Emerald is not back in my and Ahaw Kin's hands in a day, I will hunt you all down."

"Chris," Danny interjected, "I've been meaning to ask as the new guy to the team, but what is the Master Emerald?"

"I thought Miles told you about the Chaos Emeralds," Chris stated, looking at the fox Chao.

"I left it out in my explanation," Miles replied. "Until now, it was never important to us."

"Never important?" Spike questioned, a swirl over his head. The next thing Miles knew, a red echidna Chao had him by his throat, giving him an exclamation point in shock, and was violently shaking him. "You mean to tell me that you **didn't think that perhaps the most important gem **_**on the face of the earth**_** was important!?"**

"Spike, that's enough!" Ahaw Kin finally spoke up. The red Chao let go of Miles, giving him a death glare before turning to Ahaw Kin, who sighed in slight anger. "I'm sorry for Spike's rashness… he's been on-edge all day. Still, the person we met says that he saw you steal the Master Emerald, and we have no other leads."

"Well, you're in luck," Swift grinned. "We can probably track that thing-"

"I'm afraid not," Ahaw Kin interrupted. "Until we are completely sure who's innocent and who's guilty, we have to rely on the evidence we have. And we both know that the hedgehog Chao is Sonic. So, I propose we settle this dispute with a trial by swords…."

"A trial by swords?" Swift asked with a question mark over his head.

"You mean you want to fight us to fight you to the death?" Chris gasped at this proposal. "I think we're both a little young and have lives ahead of us! Besides, as Sonic, Swift and I are too powerful against normal humans!" To prove his point, he showed Ahaw Kin his Morpher.

"You're not the only one with a fancy wristwatch," Ahaw Kin replied, showing his red Chaos Morpher, making them all gasp.

"A third Morpher?" Miles questioned, looking at it while Swift had closed his eyes. Miles questioned, _**'But how? I'm the only Chao on the planet who knows **_**how**_** to make one of these things, and I don't remember making one that was red.'**_

"Your Chao experienced first hand Spike's power," Ahaw Kin continued, snapping Miles back into reality. "The man who told us about you stealing the Master Emerald said something among the lines that one Mobian Echidna was as strong as five strongmen. In other words, should this watch be legit, I'm more than capable of defending myself."

"But we just met, and you have a Morpher," Miles stated. He inspected the Morpher, getting close to Ahaw Kin's wrist, somewhat making the boy awkwardly back away. "Instead of fighting us, why don't we help you? Swift, do a quick Chaos Sense Scan of these guys and see if their levels match each other enough for them to use the Morpher."

"Already did," Swift replied, looking grim. "These guys have the same levels of Chaos energy… they're a perfect Morpher pair." Everyone else was surprised at this bit of news.

"So," Spike grinned, "do you feel like handing the Master Emerald over now, or do you wanna try fighting us?" Chris and Swift looked straight at each other, completely silent. "Not talking… that's not going to keep us away.

"If you want to accept our challenge," Ahaw Kin explained to Chris, "then come straight to those odd metal buildings by the water tomorrow."

"You mean the abandoned warehouses near the docks?" Chris questioned, realizing what the guardian boy meant. "Why there of all places?"

"It's a large area where we can do battle without interruptions and risk of others getting in the way of our fight," Ahaw Kin replied. "You must reply to our challenge within twenty-four hours… otherwise, I will not be held responsible for what my little brother does to find you." With that, Spike and Ahaw Kin stood up, and walked away, Spike shooting death glares at Swift.

Once they were out of sight, Chris turned to the others. "So," Chris began, "we have until four tomorrow to find this 'Master Emerald' that these guys are talking about or for me and Swift to fight them. I've never had this much of a deadline before outside of school. I don't want to fight anyone I don't have to, and I only took on GUN and the Speed Team because it was the only way I was guaranteed to get out of there not arrested… or dead. What are we going to do?"

"I can't help you there, Chris," Danny replied. "Speaking of school, it _is_ a school night, and I have to get home, lest I worry my mom senseless."

"Master Chris," Tanaka replied, "I am not one to encourage you to fight, but I _did_ teach you self-defense for such an occasion. You are a decent fighter on your own and even stronger as Sonic… though I hate to admit it. I am sure you and Swift will be able to at least hold your ground while we locate this gem."

"Though it will hurt like hell," Swift announced, still recovering from all of the pain. "That echidna Chao had a mean right hook. So we better either find this Emerald of theirs or find a way to outlast them."

"I'm not doing this fight thing," Chris insisted. "This is all a misunderstanding on their part."

"You have to," Swift retorted.

"I'm not fighting them, damn it."

"We have no idea where this Emerald is and they're not going to realize that we don't have it… so we have no choice _but_ to at least beat them down to a point that they'd listen to us."

"I'll get started on locating the Emerald with Chuck's help," Karin added, standing up. "In the meantime, you and Swift get ready, Chris. This guy doesn't know how you fight, but I've seen you take down robots that look tougher than you, so this should be simple."

Chris looked nervous at this. Everyone here was expecting him to fight these guys that none of them even know. Sure, he'd take on anyone who threatened his friends and family, but these two… Ahaw Kin and Spike, was it? They were clueless as to whatever happened. Whoever set the duo against him was clearly lying… but why?

---

**Rose Residence- 21:25 that night**

Helen Rose and Amy were bored. The girl and her Chao had finished going over Helen's homework hours ago, and played some games to kill time, especially since Helen's parents were out for the night (it was their wedding anniversary, after all). So, after Helen climbed into bed, the two decided to talk.

"Do you think Chris is not over the fact that he couldn't save me?" Helen asked Amy as the hedgehog Chao climbed into her little bed in the corner.

"I dunno," Amy answered, fluffing the pillow she liked to nestle in. A question mark appeared over her head as she asked, "Why… has something happened after that Sonic guy first appeared?"

"Well," Helen reminisced, "The Monday after the incident, he looked kind of spaced out. After that, he started falling asleep towards the end of our home economics class, and sometimes he falls asleep during lunch."

"Sounds like he seems bothered by something," Amy agreed, the question mark fading. "I have to agree, it's not like him to be tired during the middle of the day. He and Danny are the smartest humans I know, so he can't be having homework issues."

"Maybe I should talk to him next chance I get," Helen suggested. "I ought to reassure Chris that Sonic having to step in and save me from being eaten by a giant metal chicken will not affect our friendship."

"Atta girl," Amy smiled, climbing out of her bed and walking over to Helen's. She then thought aloud, "Speaking of Sonic, is it just me, or does he remind you of someone?"

"What do you mean?" Helen questioned, not getting what the Chao meant. The small pink Chao had a heart over her head, happy at the thought.

"Look at his personality. He's helpful, brave, strong, determined… a hero among Mobians if there ever was one, despite his negative relationship with the police. If he was a billionaire kid whose parents were murdered so he traveled across the globe to get into the criminal mindset and trained to be a ninja, he would be a Mobian equivalent to Batman. However, the closest person that even resembles most of those qualities…." This was interrupted by a sudden knocking noise that both girls picked up. The knocking seemed to come from just outside of Helen's bedroom window.

'_That's strange,'_ Helen thought while looking at her window. _'Mom and Dad said they would be gone until eleven. And I don't know anyone who would use the window.'_ It didn't take much to realize someone or something was trying to get her attention. Amy decided to go to the door, and lock it just in case anyone else was in the house.

"Be careful, Amy," Helen warned while sitting up in her bed, slowly reaching for her cell phone that was charging on the nightstand, just in case whoever or whatever was knocking was watching her every move. Amy, just in case, was reaching for a mallet (which just so happened to be the Chao equivalent of a war hammer) that happened to be under Helen's bed.

Once the Chao found the mallet, she stated, "I will be." Just then, the doorknob of the bedroom room had a giant hole next to it, courtesy of a golden metal hand. Both Helen and Amy gasped at the sudden random break-in, Amy having an exclamation mark over her head.

"_Would it _kill_ the doctor to give a reason why we're doing this?"_ a robotic voice muttered to itself as the hand started feeling for doorknob. Amy's grip on her hammer tightened, not knowing who would come first- the one at the door, or the one at the window. Amy, just to be safe, started to attempt to barricade the door with whatever she could lift and was in the room. Meanwhile, Helen grabbed her phone, and started dialing the first person she could think of- Francine "Frances" Burns.

"Come on, come on," Helen whispered into the cell phone. "Pick up, pick up, pick up…!"

"…_Helen?"_ Frances asked into the phone. _"What's up?"_

"Oh thank god," Helen breathed into the phone. "Frances, someone's broken into my house, and is trying to break into my room."

"_What!?"_ Frances gasped. _"Someone's in your house right now!?"_

"Not too loud," Helen whispered. "…Listen, Amy's blocking the door, but that's not the only problem. Someone's at the window… I don't think they're human."

"_You don't think Sonic's stalking you, is he?"_ Frances questioned.

"This isn't a time for jokes," Helen snapped into the phone. "I need help, and I need it now! My parents are too far away, and you're the closet person to my house!"

"_What are you calling me for?"_ Frances questioned back. _"Call the police or something!"_

"I just wanted someone to know!" Just then, the golden hand found the doorknob, unlocked the door, and started turning it to open the door… only for the door to run straight into a barricade of various stuffed animals and a hamper full of clothes.

"_Oh for the love of god!"_ the owner of the gold hand yelled. _"Bokkun, help a brother out, here, will you?"_

"Oh, fine," a new voice answered, this time coming from outside. Before either Amy or Helen could turn around, a small, black blur crashed straight through the window, sending broken glass all across the tan carpet, and delivering a powerful kick straight into the back of Amy's head, knocking her out. The black blur revealed to be a rather large black Chao with small red demon wings, pure white eyes, a pair of red devil horns and a devil tail, a toothy grin, and a large spike ball over his head- a Dark Chao.

Now, Chao are neither good nor evil creatures when they're born. In fact, they're just normal. The way they're raised will affect whether they will become Light Chao with halos over their head like little angels, or Dark Chao with spike balls over their heads and demon-esque characteristics like tiny devils. This Chao, Bokkun apparently, was a Dark Chao.

The Chao moved the clutter from the door, and opened it to reveal Decoe and Bocoe. _"About time,"_ Bocoe snapped at the Chao.

"I got us in, didn't I?" Bokkun shrugged. Turning to the girl, the Chao saw that she was staring at him while on the phone. Before anyone could predict, the Chao shot over, grabbed the phone from her hand, and threw it out the window. Landing on her lap, the Chao flashed a mischievous grin. "Message for you!" the Chao greeted.

Helen screamed.

---

**Human Card:** Dr. Ivo Robotnik

**Occupation:** Scientist (Originally), Archeologist, Head of Robotnik Empire (Currently)

**Known Relatives**: Professor Gerald Robotnik (paternal grandfather, deceased, firing squad), Parents (deceased from Robotnik Manhunt), Maria Robotnik I (deceased, ARK tragedy), Maria Robotnik II (niece)

**Hobbies:** Tinkering, Research, World Domination, History

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Yes, I went with damsel-in-distress. Forgive me, female readers. However, for the whole Knuckles introduction, I did originally plan for something like this- I needed to give Sonic a _reason_ to come to the docks. Also, I must apologize. I'm going to be doing a different project over the summer vacation that has nothing to do with _Chao Chronicles._ In order for it to even be on deviantART by the end of summer, I took time off of this story to get started. Hell, I might not finish it at all by the end of summer, and have to wait until next year. So once season one of _Chao Chronicles_ is done, it will be on a few months hiatus so I get used to college life. This is a warning in advance: if there is a sudden hiatus around August, you now know why.

I like how Bokkun turned out, here. In _Sonic X,_ he was just a messenger robot with a crush on Cream. Not in _Chao Chronicles,_ though. He's still a messenger, but he's a slightly badass Dark Chao bred by Robotnik himself! I mean, doesn't Bokkun somewhat resemble a Chao in _Sonic X?_ Well, if you don't like him, don't worry too much… he only appears when necessary.

Edge's Corner: Such as in my comment show right now!

Bokkun: Yay! I'm answering crazy comments! Okay, first comment…

**Salamander Hanzo by Bokkun:** That's a great philosophy. Though I prefer C4-laced tape recordings, TV bombs, and tabloid grenades, boxes with dynamite is a great way to deal with problems.

**SPark681 by Edge:** Yes, it's kind of obvious who did the crime, and thank you for not spoiling things. Just for that, I'll let you all know that the second arc in Chao Chronicles is about to begin after episode five. Two words: Mayan Vacation.

**Kitty Seville by Bokkun:** I believe your internet will be in the mail. Anyways, I didn't even know Shadow was a religion. I have to ask the Doctor about this. He'll definitely know if this is a religion! Anyways… wait, a Swift drawing? We're only five episodes in, and he already has _fan art?_ That's it! Just for this alone there is a DVD player and DVD mine with his name on it!

**White Hunter by Edge:** Here's your answer to what happens next. Swift gets in fight with Spike, the two are broken up by Tails who is starting to get a hang of his powers like Sonic has gotten, Chris and Swift are challenged to a duel by Ahaw Kin and Spike, and Helen gets her house broken into by Robotnik's two usual lackeys and today's co-host. Also, did you notice the "Kingdom Rider92, out!" thing that the author does at the end of these notes? He does that in reviews, too.

**SuperSpeed by Bokkun:** See Edge's last answer.

**Zohaku by Bokkun:** Uh, slight typo, dude in Frances' name, but I'll let it slide as how you manage to aggravate the author by figuring out what happens next. Like right now. I see him venting that you figured out who built the Morpher, who will the technology next, and leaving everyone wondering how he got it if they read your reviews. Also, just for this, Kingdom Rider92 is going to leave you _all_ hanging until next chapter as to how Knuckles looks. *cough* Tribal Punk *cough*

**DFuture by Edge:** One, interesting name. Two, I'm glad to see someone caught the Meteor Tech reference to _Sonic Riders Zero Gravity._ It was my suggestion. Now, just to establish this once and for all, anyone who uses a Chaos Morpher will be called a "Neo Mobian." There will be a reason for this later. Now, does this mean that the Babylon Rogues are in here? Damn straight. Will they be a trio of Neo Mobians? I'm not allowed to reveal that kind of info. Will Meteor Tech go evil? That depends on whether the author wants to do it.

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: And with that, I think I'm done with reviews, today. Thank you, Bokkun, for taking time out of your debut to actually come and do these. Things should be wrapped up in part 3 of episode 5, and we can get to the actual first cool not monster-of-the week format story arc. Kingdom Rider92, out!


	13. Episode 5, Part 3

A/N: Warning. The following part of episode 5 contains 69% more Knuckles than the previous two parts. If you have too much Knuckles in your system right now, wait until reading. Also, come back with a Cheese Coney for me.

---

**Robot Card:** Decoe

**Model:** E-0003

**Equipment:** Robot Link Drive, Armored Fist

**Purpose:** Road Buddy/Servant/Comic Relief Henchman

---

**Rose Residence- 22:18**

Chris, Danny, Swift, Tanaka, Frances, and Miles were in Helen's room with several police officers, including Sam Speed, busy comforting a blonde haired woman in her mid thirties with pale skin, and light blue eyes, which she was currently crying out. Before you ask, YES, this is Helen's mother. As for her father, a light brown haired man in his late thirties with dark blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin, he was trying to answer the police's question about his missing daughter. Although Sam Speed- who knew Chris and his friends so well- insisted that he knew all there was to know about Helen, the other officers insisted that they had to follow procedure.

"Calm down," Frances quietly told Mrs. Rose, despite her own worries. "I'm sure the police will find something."

"It's not that I'm worried that they won't find anything," Mrs. Rose answered her between choked sobs. "I'm worried that it will be too late before they _do!"_

"I assure you, Mrs. Rose," Sam stated while placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll find whoever did this within a day! I bet Sonic won't beat me to her!"

"Knowing Master Chris' uncle," Tanaka added, looking at Sam, "he will be able to do so." Sam could only beam at this comment.

"Speaking of Sonic, Uncle Sam," Chris questioned, "I heard you lost to him in a race." This made the man's grin fade.

"…To be honest," Sam sighed, "I'm truly wanting a rematch. I think his main motivation for that was because my boys were trying to kill him. Also, ever since Sonic sent Hector on a one-way trip out of his car at nearly two hundred miles an hour- thank god for parachutes and comfy chairs, by the way- and showed him up, Hector has become more arrogant and hot-headed. It would be best if it was just me and Sonic for a rematch for 'World's Fastest.'"

While the police were marking down any signs of damage, trying to figure out who would be capable of the crime and how it played out based on the damage. Looking at the broken window, they thought someone jumped out of the window with Helen, but there were not any traces of something to land on- there wasn't a tall tree right outside, and there weren't any tire tracks right outside… nothing.

"Let's see here," Miles muttered to himself while looking back and forth between the damaged door, broken window, glass stains, the back of the semi-conscious Amy- who was still here- and the scattered clothes. Miles was not a true detective, but he had quite a brain capacity and- after working with a rather insane blue hedgehog Chao for at least three years- a bit of knowledge in how a situation occurred.

"Hey, Miles," Danny questioned while watching the Chao's eyes, "what are you looking for?" Just then, Miles' dot above his head turned into an exclamation point.

"I think I know how it happened," Miles announced. Everyone turned to the fox Chao, who climbed up on the bed- being careful of the remaining glass shards. Turning to Amy, he asked, "You said you were knocked out from behind, right…?"

"Y-yes," Amy replied. "And by the way, it's Amy."

"Miles," the fox Chao greeted. "So, you couldn't see who attacked you?"

"No," the pink hedgehog Chao sighed, a swirl over her head. "I barricaded the door when we noticed someone with a gold hand trying to break in, but I heard the window, and I was out cold a couple seconds later."

"Not to mention you have a nasty bump on your head," Swift mentioned, looking at Amy's head. The female hedgehog had a slight blush at how close Swift's head was to hers. Miles nodded, and then turned to Frances.

"And you said you were on the phone with Helen, um… Chaos, I wish I didn't sleep in when Swift met you guys."

"It's Frances, Miles," the redhead smiled. "Anyways, yes. I told her to call the police, but I guess they got her by the time I suggested it."

"So," Miles concluded, "judging by the damage, the door was broken, and someone tried to break in, only to be blocked. Luckily for them, they had someone who could fly or climbing waiting outside the window to break in- a Fly or Power Chao. Chao quickly broke in, knocked out Amy, eliminated barricade, and disposed of Helen's phone- which is why nobody's found it. It was at least two against one… Helen was as good as caught."

"Speed," one of the officers spoke up, holding a paper. "We found this under the girl's pillow." Sam took the note, and quickly looked it over. Chris and Miles took the time to steal a glance from the letter.

_**To the girl's parents:**_

_**If you are reading this message, then that means my men have kidnapped your only child, and I am holding her hostage. Now, do not worry… she is safe for now. However, that may change if Sonic the Hedgehog- as well as his new friend Tails the Fox- do not show themselves at the warehouses near Station Square's piers by 5 p.m. tomorrow. Alone. No police involvement is necessary- that means if anyone in blue other than a hedgehog shows up, then the girl's chances of dying suddenly go up.**_

_**I will release the girl as soon as Sonic and Tails show themselves. I assure you that I mean her no harm. Oh, and Tails… I have to admit, it was a hell of a show you displayed against GUN. I have never seen a pilot of your capabilities. I hope to see that your hand-to-hand is as good as your flying, as it may get messy if you don't.**_

"_**The Eggman"**_

Sam, Chris, Swift, and Miles were all silent at this message. Nobody else said a single word for about three minutes. Sam decided to break the ice. "…Who the hell calls himself 'The Eggman' of all pseudonyms?"

"Does that matter?" Chris questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Although, I've heard worse nicknames." He then remembered something in that letter, as well as something earlier in that letter.

"The real question we should be asking," Mr. Rose broke in, "is how we get in contact with this Sonic character?" At this comment, Chris, Miles, Danny, and Tanaka all subconsciously looked away. They knew that they all had something to do with Sonic, but could they openly admit that? Hell no! Chris wanted to tell his friends Helen and Frances that he was a superpowered hedgehog, but he didn't know if a hostage situation where one of his friends was said hostage was the best time. Especially not with all of these people, including his own uncle. A couple weeks ago, he _did_ beat Sam Speed in a race across the town. For some reason or another, the looking away part was ignored.

"He just seems to show up and vanish whenever he feels needed," Frances pointed out, remembering all of the incidents that had been happening. "Chances are he'll find a way into this."

"Well," an officer grinned, "whoever the hell this 'Eggman' is, he has just given us a way to capture him _and_ Sonic. If this Tails guy exists, then we may as well arrest him too. The docks are huge- police will be swarming the place. It'll take more than luck for Sonic to escape us this time!"

After a few comforting words were said to Helen's parents, and Chris and Sam talked a bit, everyone left for home. As Chris was about to leave, a red-clad hand clasped his shoulder. He looked to see his uncle wearing a serious expression. "Chris," Sam announced. "You're worried about Helen, aren't you?" The boy could only nod. "…Well, I'm sure that I can convince the school to be closed for tomorrow on account of the terrorist attacks as of late. Also, it could be rough- the other police officers want to catch Sonic, and are actually going to prepare to do anything to catch him. I want you to avoid getting hurt, okay?"

"…Sure, Uncle Sam," Chris replied. Sam flashed him a smile.

"Hey, I'll bring Helen to your house for you," the Speed King promised, rubbing Chris' hair, messing it up. "Stay out of trouble for me." Sam then walked over to his car, climbed in, and soon drove off. Swift walked out, holding a banana in his little hands.

"…I like your uncle," Swift smiled, taking a bite out of the banana. Getting serious, he stated, "Looks like we're heading to the docks, after all."

"Yeah," Chris sighed, remembering that he was supposed to be at the docks to fight Ahaw Kin. _'Wait…'_ Chris realized. _'He may have known I was Sonic, but… does he know Helen?'_

---

**Warehouses by the Docks- 15:46**

Two blurs- one blue, and one yellow-orange- rushed towards the warehouses, stopping in front of one of them. The two blurs were revealed to be Sonic and Tails. "Thank god I can fly with my tails," the kitsune Neo Mobian sighed while looking at Sonic. "I don't think I could've kept up with you otherwise."

"True," Sonic smiled. Sonic then closed his eyes, triggering his Chaos Sense. It wasn't long before Sonic detected several traces of Chaos Energy coming from several humans. Obviously, the police were hiding throughout the area. Sonic's smile faded. "The police are here… that only complicates things."

"Hopefully whoever orchestrated Helen's abduction does not have the well trained Chaos Sense as your Chao side has acquired," Tails replied. "We do not want to risk Helen being killed by this 'Eggman' fellow."

'_**I think the nickname's pretty cool,'**_ Swift silently voiced. _**'Not something one would expect, and funny to remember!'**_

"Anyways," Sonic announced, "we don't have just this Eggman guy to worry about. What about Ahaw Kin and Spike?" Tails was somewhat confused, but remembered yesterday afternoon. "I still have to deal with them."

"Then take care of it," Tails concluded. Sonic was stunned at this message. "…Look, just deal with their Neo Mobian form quickly, and find me. I'll try to avoid police confrontation and find Helen." Handing the hedgehog an earpiece, he explained, "Dr. Naka made these for us to communicate with each other. As soon as I find Helen and this Eggman guy, I'll call you." Tails then jumped up, flying to the rooftop of the building they were near, and ran off, jumping from roof to roof.

Sonic looked around, making sure nobody was there before placing the earpiece in his left ear. _**'…Do you want me to find that Spike guy from yesterday?'**_ Swift questioned.

'_Yes, please,'_ Chris replied as Sonic ran off as well, searching for his opponents. Thousands of things ran through Chris' half of Sonic's mind. Tails did temporarily restrain Spike, and he and Ahaw Kin were their first enemies to deduce Chris' identity as Sonic. Although it was slightly obvious for Swift (with his traits and all), Chris had almost nothing in common except for the Morpher on his right wrist. These two were smarter than most of the robots Sonic has fought, but it was really pushing it considering the time limit of Ahaw Kin's scheduled duel and this "Eggman's" demanded time.

Could these guardians _**tell**_ that Chris wasn't going to fight them? Could they have broken into Helen's house, knocked out Amy before she could even see them, grab Helen, and rush out all for a fight? If that was the case, then this just got personal.

---

**Warehouse 34- 15:52**

Sonic slowly opened the door to the building, looking around. "Hello?" Sonic yelled, walking into the abandoned warehouse, his eyes darting from side to side. "Is there anybody here? There's a pepperoni and cheese pizza for the first guy to come out of hiding!" There wasn't a single response at that comment. Sonic sighed in frustration.

'_Man,'_ Chris groaned to Swift, _'that would get about half the kids I know. Either these guys are focused on fighting us, or they're masters of silence who could attack from anywhere at anytime.'_

"Out of curiosity," Ahaw Kin voiced from behind Sonic, "what are these 'pepperonis' that you speak of?" Sonic looked behind him to see the confused faces of Ahaw Kin and Spike- who had a question mark over his head. "I hope they're not meat or anything, as I'm a vegetarian."

'_**Or, this guy's a gullible vegan whose never been in a pizza place,'**_ Swift humorously answered.

"…Never mind," Sonic told them. "So, you guys wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, we do," Spike replied as his question mark faded. "You're earlier than we expected. Now, let's get started." Sonic lowered himself into a fighting stance, physically and mentally preparing himself for whatever tactics the two could throw at him.

"Hey, Spike," Ahaw Kin shyly questioned while looking at the Morpher, "how do you work this thing?" Sonic, upon hearing this, nearly fell over. Spike, however, had an annoyed swirl over his head.

"You mean that old guy _never_ told us!?" Both halves of Sonic had to admit while looking at the human and Chao struggle to figure out the Morpher. Considering the hype of the battle caused and the detective work done figuring out the hedgehog's identity by the guardian duo, the fact that they could not figure out how to use one of the potentially most dangerous weapons in the world was sad.

"I hope Tails isn't as bored as I am," Sonic muttered.

---

**Warehouse 25- 15:50**

Tails slowly poked his head in the building. "Hello?" he called in, hoping to get an answer. Tails, when he didn't get one, casually walked in, grabbing his Dummy Ring Rifle off his back. "Is there anybody here?" There was still no response.

'_**Well,'**_ Miles casually began, **_'since nobody has jumped out of nowhere, there isn't the familiar yell of 'You're under arrest,' and we're not being shot at, I can tell that the police are _not _in here.'_**

'_We shouldn't take our chances, though,'_ Danny replied as Tails leapt into the air, taking flight with his two tails. _'Anything could be here.'_ Tails landed on one of the large crates, and looked around. Scanning the area from the level, it did not take the two-tailed fox long to find something- well, specifically, someone. Helen Rose was tied to a chair in the middle of the warehouse, a cloth over her mouth. Tails holstered the weapon, and flew down to the girl.

Helen, upon seeing him, began yelling at Tails- either in fear, in praise, or in anger. However, neither the human side nor Chao side of the fox had a degree in the ancient language of "gagged," so Tails couldn't interpret it. "Don't worry," Tails calmly smiled, reaching behind Helen's head to untie the cloth. "I'm here to save you, on behalf of Sonic. My name's Tails, by the way."

As soon as the cloth came undone, Helen immediately yelled, "It's a trap!" Tails gasped in sudden shock- it was all too easy, even if it was his second field mission. How could he not suspect a trap like this? Suddenly, the box that Tails was standing on just a minute earlier collapsed, revealing a certain mustachioed man, his two silver and gold robots, and a giant red robotic spider. Dr. Ivo Robotnik was in Station Square.

"Surprise!" the man announced as Decoe and Bocoe pulled out two confetti guns, shooting them in the air. Robotnik, getting serious, looked at Tails with a grin. "Hello, Tails. Somehow, I thought I would be meeting Sonic face-to-face first, but I suppose locking horns with you will give me some insight on your abilities."

"…You're 'Eggman?'" Tails asked while looking the man that swindled him into coming here up and down. "Wow, you live up to your alias."

"I know," Robotnik sighed. "Sadly, this body structure happens to be genetic on the male side of my family. Believe me; I have _tried_ to break this family curse of egg shaped upper body with everything on the market I could get my hands on." Returning to his serious mode, the scientist introduced, "Now, you are standing before the man who rules the Robotnik Empire: Doctor Ivo Robotnik." Both halves of Tails' brain seemed to synchronize their thinking at the name.

"Wait," Tails questioned. "You're the man who has been responsible for Sonic's several battles, including the one that GUN went after him with planes?"

"The same battle you showed up," Robotnik smirked. "I had another Egg Beetle hang back and watch you go against those pilots. Once again, an impressive air duel."

"I'm flattered," Tails replied, reaching for his rifle. Pointing it at the scientist and casting a quick glance at Helen, the fox demanded, "Now, why did you get this girl involved!?"

"Simple," Robotnik replied as if the whole situation had a method to it. "Has Sonic told you that Miss Rose there is the first human that he interacted with? I figured that he has an attraction to her, so it was to draw him out. If he isn't here with you, then he is being held up by a potential pair that- once they figure out all they have to do is press the center of the device- could match him blow for blow." Casting a glance of his own at the spider robot, Robotnik smirked, "In the meantime, however, you should start running. The Egg Tarantula likes to play with its food before it eats them."

As if to prove his point, the large spider robot climbed past Robotnik, Decoe, and Bocoe, crawling towards Tails and Helen. The fox boy, surprised at this, dropped his rifle, grabbed Helen's chair, and flew upward right as the large spider rammed its head into the ground where the two once were.

"_Doctor,"_ Decoe questioned, _"you mean you forgot to tell the boy and his echidna Chao how to transform with the Chaos Morpher?"_

"It slipped my mind," Robotnik embarrassedly announced.

---

**Warehouse 35- 15:57**

"Have you figured it out, yet?" Chris asked Ahaw Kin and Spike. Considering that nobody else was around and Ahaw Kin already knew his secret identity, Chris felt no reason to stay as Sonic until Ahaw Kin transformed. Swift, already bored, wandered around the area aimlessly, seeing how many times he could run around the warehouse before Ahaw Kin and Spike transformed, "As much as I'm against fighting you," Chris announced, "I'm willing to help you activate your Morpher."

"How do we know you won't sabotage it!?" Spike accused, a swirl over his head. Chris sighed at the comment- at the rate things were going, Tails could have already found Helen, and he wanted to hurry this up. But the last time he tried to just leave, the red Chao told him to hold still so they could figure it out. So, Chris decided to take a better approach- just show them how to transform.

"Hey, Swift," Chris called out to the hedgehog Chao, who just finished his ninetieth lap. "Since one of them is being stubborn to refuse physical help, how about we just show them?"

"I can't think of a good reason not to," Swift agreed. Chris then turned to Ahaw Kin and Spike, who were just poking the watch, and whistled to get their attention.

"Guys, watch this," Chris insisted. Pressing on the center of the Morpher, Chris yelled, **"Chaos Soul, Activate!"** Pretty soon, Sonic was where Chris and Swift once stood. Ahaw Kin and Spike looked at each other, the former smirking while the latter groaned.

"And you said asking for their help would do more harm than good," Ahaw Kin taunted the Chao. He then pressed on the center of his Morpher, yelling, **"Chaos Soul, Roar!"** Soon, Spike turned into a dark red beam of light, which enveloped his human partner. Ahaw Kin's hair grew out in a few dreadlock like quills, his ten fingers became only six, a jagged tail protruded from his backside, red fur grew all over his body, and two long spikes grew from each of his hands.

Soon, Sonic found himself face-to-face with a red echidna-like man with two long spikes protruding out of his knuckles, three fingers per hand, and a white crescent on his slightly exposed, muscular torso wearing a dusted cowboy's hat, a brown, woven vest over a white muscle shirt, red denim pants with a chain belt, and a pair of purple goggles hanging from around his neck. The dark red Morpher around his left wrist shined brightly with the sunlight coming through the windows. "All right," the echidna form of Ahaw Kin began while looking at his new hands. "So, this is how you became Sonic."

"Yeah, I know," Sonic replied. "Now, I have a question for- whoa!" The hedgehog found himself having to dodge a powerful punch by the echidna, who was forced to punch the metal crate that was behind the hedgehog earlier. However, instead of hurting the echidna's hand, the punch ended up slightly denting the metal, leaving two small holes in the center of the dent. Sonic then felt a warm red substance slide down his cheek, which had been sliced by the attack. Sonic had little time to look at the damage before the echidna attacked again, this time with a right hook that Sonic had to duck under.

Once Sonic recovered his balance by the two sudden attacks, he turned to the echidna, who was scowling. "I thank you for teaching me how to access this form, Sonic," the echidna bowed. "Still, you have stolen the Master Emerald, and I will see judgment done."

'_**You know,'**_ Swift groaned, _**'maybe we were better off trying to find Helen.'**_ Chris was about to agree when Sonic was once again forced to dodge another potentially deadly punch. Sonic then quickly kicked the echidna back a few yards, and jumped up. Sonic then kicked off the side of a crate, getting some extra air.

'_Okay,'_ Chris agreed as Sonic landed on the top of a nearby crate, _'that would have been better than this. Though had we let these guys figure out the Morpher and left after we rescued Helen without dealing with them, they could've torn Station Square apart!'_

Out loud, Sonic yelled, "Now that I'm out of your attack range, care to listen to me?"

"Oh, you're not out of the woods, yet," the echidna smirked. "The human side of me liked to rock climb in his spare time when the Chao side was watching the Master Emerald that you stole… add in the new spikes on my knuckles, and you'll get the rest." The next thing Sonic knew, the echidna rammed his right fist into the crate, and the left one slightly higher. Soon, the echidna pulled himself up slightly, yanking the right fist out to ram it above the left one.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sonic breathed as the echidna scaled the metal crate with improvised footholds. Once the echidna reached the top, he jumped up, and delivered a powerful backhand to Sonic's face, making him skid across the metal.

"Nope," the echidna replied as he cracked his neck. "The hobbies of the human side of me and the powers of the Chao side make me quite an opponent for you, Sonic. Now, get ready to die." Sonic got back up, and saw the echidna charging at him. Sonic sidestepped the echidna's charge, and roundhouse kicked him in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. Noticing the exposed spikes on the echidna's hands, he rushed over and stepped on the ones on the right hand, breaking them with his impressive lower body strength. The echidna howled in pain, but luckily the injury did not result in blood loss.

"Now that I've gotten you're attention," Sonic stated, ignoring the scream of agony, "are you willing to hear me out or do I have to break the second set of spikes on knuckles?" The echidna, after pulling his right hand out from under Sonic's foot, clenched it up, and began to concentrate. "Um… don't tell me that you plan to fight me with an injured fist when your fighting style is all about using your hands," Sonic remarked. That statement turned terribly sour when two _new_ red spikes grew out of the back of the echidna's right hand.

"…That took a lot more energy than I thought it would," the echidna groaned while rubbing his sore right hand. Sonic, however, was completely flabbergasted. Sure, he knew that Neo Mobians, like Chao, had ridiculously fast healing abilities, but the fact that this echidna just regenerated two broken spikes within a minute… that was pushing the laws of physics more than their existence already did!

"How in the hell did you do that?" Sonic questioned. "I know we're fast healers, but that's ridiculous even for us!"

"Oh, right," the echidna realized. "You see, this is not the first time either side of me had to deal with the Chao half's spikes breaking. Luckily, as a Knuckles clan echidna Chao, the Chao side can regenerate damage done to bones quicker than most Chao."

"So, should I call you 'Knuckles' when you're like this?" The echidna, now named Knuckles, stabbed his newly grown spikes into the lid of the metal crate they were on, and whipped around, kicking Sonic into the air. Knuckles then yanked his hand out, letting his momentum take him airborne, clapped his hands together, and swung them both vertically, knocking Sonic on top of another crate. The echidna then landed on top of Sonic, holding his sharp left claws to the hedgehog's throat.

"Knuckles would be… nice," the echidna answered.

'_**It looks like we've got him,'**_ Spike grinned as the echidna grabbed Sonic's neck with the right hand. _**'Let's finish Sonic off before he gets away!'**_

'_Not yet, Spike,'_ Ahaw Kin replied. _'Before we pass judgment, I want to know where Sonic has placed the Master Emerald. Maybe he'll cooperate knowing that we have bested him.'_

'_**I hope they realize that we can communicate with them telepathically as long as we're touching,'**_ Swift voiced, shocking Ahaw Kin and Spike.

"S-so I don't need to repeat myself," Knuckles growled, trying to recover credibility as he pressed the spikes to Sonic's neck. "What have you done with the Master Emerald!?"

"Once again," Sonic replied, "we don't have it. We never did. Sure, we have two Chaos Emeralds, but we had no intentions with this _Master Emerald!_ I've been meaning to ask, but who told you that!?"

"The same man who gave me the Morpher. I have no idea of his name, but he seemed reliable!" Sonic then finally took a look at the Morpher… and noticed the face on it. It looked like the very Egg Pawns he had been destroying for weeks.

'_**You don't think it was that Doctor Robotnik guy, do you?'**_ Swift questioned.

'_Maybe,'_ Chris stated. Sonic knew he was probably going to regret this, but he curled his legs up, and trust both of them into Knuckles stomach, flipping the echidna off of him and onto his back. _'In the meantime, though, let's reason with these guys.'_

'_**Oh, because it has worked before. They're not going to listen.'**_

"Look," Sonic said as he and the echidna got up, "as much as I'd enjoy getting into an argument with a stubborn mule, I don't have time for this. If whoever set us against each other is who I think it is, then not only are two of my human side's closest friends in danger, but you have been played." The echidna, who had no idea what was going on, raised an eyebrow at this.

"What are you talking about?" Knuckles questioned. Just then, surprising them both, the front doors of the warehouse were thrown open by several police officers, all of whom were pointing their guns at the two Neo Mobians.

"Freeze!" the head of the officers, a certain Hector Drags, yelled as he pointed his gun at the two. "Sonic the Hedgehog… and whoever the hell that echidna guy is! You two are under arrest!" Sonic groaned at the sudden addition to his problems.

'_When it rains,'_ Chris grumbled to Swift.

'_**It freaking pours,'**_ Swift finished.

---

**Human Card:** Samuel Speed

**Occupation:** Racecar Driver (former), Police Officer (current), Speed Team Leader (Red)

**Known Relatives:** Christopher Thorndyke (Nephew), Nelson Thorndyke (brother-in-law), Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke (sister)

**Hobbies:** Automobile racing, hanging out with Chris, dreaming of having that rematch with Sonic

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, I will admit that this one episode is taking me a hell of a lot longer than it should. Luckily, today I have the entire day off, as it is the start of my Spring Break. I'll try to finish the last part of episode 5 by the end of today or tomorrow. No promises about Easter Sunday, though, due to the fact that my family will be going on a cruise and I don't know when my laptop will be getting to my family's room. We going straight to Hell, baby!

Okay, about the chapter itself… there was a deleted scene with Ahaw Kin and Spike asking each other, "What if Sonic doesn't show?" That was then answered by Robotnik saying he has a way. Now, as much I like to give new but important characters screen time, I thought it would take too long, and this website (as well as several readers' patience) does have a limit. Also, I wanted to give Sam Speed a little more screen time, as he hasn't appeared for three episodes now.

Speaking of Sam Speed, he plays a far more important role in this than he did in _Sonic X, _because it allows the two characters to grow. In _Sonic X,_ they are supposed to be rivals for the world's fastest, but Sam got the short end of the stick like the rest of the cast by barely being mentioned (if at all) in season 3 save for Chris. Laziest way to get rid of several cast members at the same time ever. My view on Sonic and Sam Speed's rivalry/relationship is that in _Sonic X,_ Speed could have damn well been a better rival and even a potential ally if they had a Batman and Commissioner Gordon style relationship. Sonic in this series is a vigilante due to his powers, tactics, and even his species. Speed, on the other hand, may break a few speeding laws, but he's a law abiding citizen other than that, and actually likes Sonic. That will be demonstrated in Part 4 of this episode.

Now, Edge… who's your next guest?

Edge's Corner: Okay, I flipped a coin, and it landed on tails. Everybody on the internet, welcome Ahaw Kin!

Ahaw Kin: Um… hi, internet?

Edge: Well, let's get started with the reviews… first!

**Salamander Hanzo by Edge:** Okay, let me just say that this is somehow the author's fault. Other than that, this was funny. I mean, who has heard of a bastardized version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" like this?

**SuperSpeed by Ahaw Kin:** It was an interesting chapter, wasn't it? Though Spike did complain that most of his fight scene with that blue Chao was taken out… as well as the fact that the news made the damage far more severe than it really was. But, I suppose that is television for you.

**Zohaku by Ahaw Kin:** Okay, you remind me of the one character saw in a movie once where we snuck in. I believe it was _Star Wars?_ Yeah, let's go with that one. You talked like one of the characters. And that fight scene could have gone longer, but we were running short on time. Also, are you you're not that character from that movie? Because I'm sure those people called "Jedi" could read minds.

Kingdom Rider92: Okay, that's our show for today. Next guest on the program will be Sam Speed. Please leave any and all questions in the reviews. Now, to prepare for leaving on that cruise! Kingdom Rider92, out!


	14. Episode 5, Part 4

A/N: And now, it's time for the first story arc of Chao Chronicles to end. Heavy emphasis on the words 'story arc,' not saga. This saga will take at least another year to finish off properly, unless you want me to rush. I have a life.

---

**Gadget Card:** Power Rings

**Inventor:** Miles

**Purpose:** To provide an emergency Chaos Energy boost when power is low

**Notes:** "I know these things could come in handy in case of a pinch, but the three minute time limit per ring plus the physical energy it drains once said limit expires proves that they can only be used in do or die situations."

---

**Warehouse 35- 16:13**

While Knuckles was clearly confused with current circumstances, Sonic did not like where things were going. He had almost convinced the echidna to not kill him, and could have probably gotten an amazing fighter that proved physically stronger than him at least twofold and could match him blow for blow to help save the friends of the human half of him, only for Station Square's police force to pour in, guns ready. Clearly, things had just gone from bad to worse.

"Alright, Sonic," Hector Drags grinned at the hedgehog. "Today is judgment day for you! You're under arrest for vigilantism, destruction of private and public property, resisting arrest, fleeing the scene of a crime, being an abomination to nature, secondhand kidnapping, and the most unforgivable, pissing me off! Now, both you and your new friend come down here right now, and we _might _go easy on you!"

"…What?" Knuckles whispered, looking at Sonic. "Are you sure you're _not_ the bad guy, here?"

"I'm a vigilante," Sonic replied in a hushed voice. "I'm a hero who works outside of the law… and technically, you're in trouble too. American police officers don't take too kindly to the supernatural… like two Neo Mobians running around cities doing their job to maintain the peace for them."

"'Neo Mobians?'" Knuckles repeated.

"It's kind of a nickname that Miles, the Chao side of my friend Tails, gave us," Sonic explained. "While we may be really humans and Chao outside of these forms, we're the new Mobians while we're like this."

"So, the authorities tracked you down, here?" Knuckles asked while turning his attention to the police, who looked like they wanted to shoot the two Neo Mobians right there and then.

"Well, more or less," Sonic admitted. "What's really going on is that somebody- most likely the man who pit us against each other in the first place- felt like he needed a way to make sure I wouldn't back down. So, he kidnapped the first person I remember having contact with… a handicapped blonde girl by the name of Helen Rose. Has either side of you seen her?"

'_Blonde, handicapped girl?'_ Ahaw Kin questioned Spike. _'I do not remember seeing any girls like that since our arrival in the United States, Spike. Do you?'_

'_**Not a clue,'**_ Spike replied. _**'What's so important about this girl that Sonic would fight us just so he can go after her?'**_

"…If I may ask," Knuckles verbally questioned. "Is this Helen girl important to you, Sonic?" The blue hedgehog's tan cheeks turned a slight red at the question. With a slightly smug look on his face, Knuckles grinned, "I'll take that as a yes."

'_**Wow,'**_ Swift chuckled, _**'Ahaw Kin and Spike are good!'**_

The smug grin on Knuckles face faded as a sudden realization dawned on him. "In that case… I've been played!" Getting angrier than Sonic had seen before, Knuckles growled, "Where is that man responsible for getting us here in the first place!?"

Chris mentally sighed, _'Swift, this is kind of embarrassing and random. Can we please just get out of here?'_

'_**Fine,'**_ Swift replied. _**'Do you have a plan to get past the police, find Danny, Miles, and Helen, kick this Eggman guy's ass, and get home before dinner? I heard Ella's making spaghetti and fresh lemon meringue pie!'**_

'_I do,'_ Chris replied. _'It involves cooperating with Ahaw Kin and Spike, but it's doable. Here's what we do…'_

Once the two halves of Sonic made a quick strategy to deal with the police, Sonic turned to Knuckles. "I know we've gotten off to a rocky start," Sonic began with the echidna, calming him down. "But I think we can get beyond that and work together."

"What are you talking about, now?" Knuckles asked.

"If we're going to get your Emerald back from the man that took it," the blue hedgehog explained, "We have to ditch the cops, who are in front of the only exit we have. Help me escape, and I'll forgive you so we can use our Chaos sense to locate my ally Tails, where by now he's found the person who set us up. The human side of Tails is more of about brains than the two of us, so he may be having trouble."

Knuckles had to think about it. While Sonic's deal and motives sound good, they also sounded shady for his tastes. Both halves that made up the echidna had already been outsmarted into this whole mess by one person already. Now, the person who he just was fighting five minutes ago asked to join forces to escape the authorities just to get back at said man who outsmarted him before? It was all too convenient.

"How do I know you're not just going to leave me for them?" Knuckles scowled. Sonic sighed at the skeptical behavior, but couldn't put it past the echidna. He had been duped before, and a lifetime guardian one of the greatest treasures in the world where greedy treasure hunters and overly curious archeologists pursued it every day must have provided a lack of trust with Ahaw Kin and Spike.

"…This was a big misunderstanding on both of us," Sonic smiled. Becoming serious, he warned, "And if we don't pool our skills together, now, we're not even going to get out of here for our human halves to taste my human side's maid's cooking." Knuckles was about to retort, only for his stomach to grumble. Sonic had to fight off a chuckle as the echidna blushed in embarrassment.

"Okay, fine," Knuckles agreed. "Let's get going." The echidna turned away from the police, and jumped off the crate, a fist drawn back as he neared a wall.

**WHAM!**

In order to properly abridge this, there was now a big, gaping hole with a five-foot radius, give or take a few inches, where a bunch of metal used to be, courtesy of Knuckles punching straight through it.

"Well, I was thinking we'd fight through the crowd," the hedgehog stated, "but the less people hurt, the better." Sonic, while the police were awed by this feat, took advantage of the new escape route, jumping through it, grabbing the recovering Knuckles' arm, and started to run as fast as he could without ripping the echidna's arm clean off.

'…_**Can we recruit this guy once we're done?'**_ Swift pleaded to Chris.

'_Is now the time for this!?'_ Chris yelled at his hedgehog Chao. _'Who knows what's going on with Danny, Miles, and Helen right now!?'_

---

**Warehouse 25- 16:09**

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Tails yelled as he dodged attack after attack from the large metal spider. Okay, so let me give you a brief overview of what's been going on with Tails after the Egg Tarantula started attacking, just to catch people up to speed.

After the first failed charge, Tails immediately placed Helen in the conveniently located rafters above the battle ground, and came down to ground level just as soon as the robotic spider recovered. From there, Tails then decided to keep to the lower area. The reason was that Chris would most likely give Danny and Miles hell should Helen so much as have a scratch on her. That's just putting it lightly, though.

Anyways, Tails recovered his Dummy Ring rifle and opened fire on it, zapping two of the monster's legs. However, the power of the rings did nothing to slow down the Egg Tarantula; in fact, it looked a little more pissed, if possible. It turned around, and shot a large web at the fox boy, and he barely dodged in time.

So now, here he was, running for his life as the creature's webs tried to find their way on him. Robotnik, on the other hand, watched this display with a mixed expression. This did not go unnoticed by his henchmen robots.

"_Doctor,"_ Bocoe questioned as he witnessed Tails slide under yet another web shot, _"is there a problem?"_

"Yes, there is," Robotnik replied. "Egg Tarantula is just wasting web ammunition on this fox boy. Also, the fact that the fox isn't putting up much of a fight makes this a little boring…" He then called out to the Egg Tarantula, "Quit playing with Tails already, and actually fight!" The Egg Tarantula stopped shooting webbing, and skittered over to the wall. From there, the robot scaled the walls with ease, heading up towards Helen's rafter.

'_**Danny,'**_ Miles announced as Tails skidded to a halt to see the Egg Tarantula getting closer to Helen, _**'Helen's going to be the fly in that spider's web unless we go on the offensive right now!'**_

'_Uh, problem,'_ Danny replied. _'I am not a fist fighter, and you don't look exactly Swift's caliber for fighting. We can't even short this thing out!'_

'_**You're not letting me utilize my powers,'**_ Miles berated. _**'Or the tool kit on your belt. I've been working on a few things.'**_ Curious, Tails looked down at the belt, and opened a pouch to reveal a batch of freshly made Power Rings. _**'Finished those last night for something like this.'**_

'_How do you prepare for a giant metal spider?'_ Danny honestly questioned.

'_**I was saving them for Swift and Chris,'**_ Miles admitted, _**'but I think we're going to need a Chaos Energy enhanced adrenaline rush right now more than them. Place a Ring to the Rhythm Badge, and we'll be charged for three minutes. But only one… I have yet to find out the negative strain of more than that, and I don't feel like calculating it now!'**_

Tails pulled out one of the three rings, and pressed it onto the badge. The ring started to glow for a few seconds before dispersing into his body, charging him with plenty of energy. The fox boy crouched down before springing up like a rocket, flying up after his robotic opponent.

This sequence of events did not go unnoticed by the onlookers. _"Dear god almighty!"_ Decoe exclaimed as Tails jumped up with such impressive speed. _"Did that fox boy take steroids in the past thirty seconds!?"_

"_I'm pretty sure performance enhancing drugs do not take effect _that_ quickly!"_ Bocoe replied as Tails hovered over the Egg Tarantula. Robotnik, on the other hand, flashed a devious grin.

"Things just got interesting, boys," the scientist announced. "Let's see what happens next."

What happened next was nothing short of amazing. Tails stopped flying as the large metal spider finished getting itself onto the building. He then dropped down, spinning with the grace and speed of an Olympic figure skater before slamming both of his tails into the Egg Tarantula's metal head, doing some serious damage. There was some slight recoil on his end of the hammer-like blow, but the fox got up pretty quickly.

"That was impressive," Helen said, releasing a breath she didn't know she was even holding. "Were you holding back before?"

"Adrenaline boosts my strength a bit," Tails answered while looking at the cracks made in the rafter due to the impact.

'_**Let me guess,'**_ Miles deviously grinned, _**'you plan to take out the bridge in hopes that the thing falls to its demise.'**_

'_Yeah,'_ Danny admitted, _'but unless you have explosives of some sort, I don't know how.'_

'_**Odd thing about Power Rings and Dummy Rings,'**_ Miles smiled. _**'One time when Swift accidentally set a few Rings on fire, the compounds reacted negatively… by which, I mean they blew up. It took us three weeks to get another truck for spare Chaos Morpher parts, and me until we came here to finish a batch of Power Rings.'**_

'_I'm going to ignore that little rant,'_ Danny announced, _'and ask if you have anything that I can light the Rings with.'_

'_**After that incident,'**_ Miles scowled, _**'hell no! At risk of another explosion like that, I keep the Rings at temperatures no hotter than twenty-four degrees Celsius. Look around, and hurry up. That attack should have knocked out its circuits for at least the rest of the Ring power.'**_

Tails turned to Helen, and said, "I'll be right back. Don't move anywhere." He then ran over to the side of the rafter, and hopped over the railing, spinning his tails halfway through the drop. Helen, despite her current situation, still maintained a sense of humor.

"Wouldn't dream of it," the blond girl yelled down at Tails, rolling her eyes. The fox didn't catch the sarcasm in her tone, but was mentally kicking himself for temporarily forgetting that his charge couldn't walk when one half of him clearly known that. So, he opted to drop the subject, and focus on finding a heat source. Now, from Tails' position in the air, a quick aerial scan showed not even a heater in the warehouse, or any explosives or actual firearms- his gun didn't count, because it only shot Dummy Rings. Looking around again, Tails noticed Robotnik and his two robotic minions still watching the show.

'_If we can't blow it up,'_ Danny suggested, _'why don't we take out its creator?'_ Tails then started to fly a little lower, mentally keeping track of his Power Ring time.

"_Doctor,'_ Decoe pointed out, _"I think the Egg Tarantula just went offline."_

"That spider's not squashed, yet," Robotnik replied, looking up at Tails. "It's just out for a little bit. In the meantime, you two… when was the last time you two ever fought?"

"_Doctor,"_ Bocoe answered, _"we're your servant robots, not your elite guard. You said we didn't need them."_

"And I'm still right," Robotnik stated while Tails landed on the ground in front of him. "So, enjoying your little breather from the Egg Tarantula?"

"Yeah," Tails replied, a bit more confident than he was with his previous opponent. "Now, I'm going to give you two choices. Either call off your spider once it wakes up and turn yourself into the police for getting the girl into our little war, or I can make you." Robotnik just grinned at this.

"If you think that just because I'm a scientist by occupation that I have no physical skill compared to you," he warned with a chuckle, "then this isn't even going to be a workout for me." Tails raised an eyebrow at the statement. If the clear difference in strength between Chris when he's human and Chris when he's Sonic didn't tell him that Mobians outclassed humans in that department, then why was Robotnik gloating that he could beat Tails in a fistfight?

"What the hell are you talking about?" the fox questioned. The next thing Tails knew, Robotnik rushed over, grabbed Tails in a crushing hug, and flipped him over with a powerful belly-to-belly supplex.

Now, Robotnik hated comments about his weight, but damn if it doesn't help in the one sport that he knows he's good at- professional masked wrestling. Not only can't guys pick you up half the time, but you can use that weight for devastating moves. Also, the fact that the floor Tails was slammed on was made of solid steel did not help the fox's back.

"Just because I have a weight problem doesn't mean I let it hold me back, smirked the scientist as he got up. "It really helped me through wrestling back in high school, and I've done it ever since."

"How long has that been?" Tails asked while getting up, cracking his back so he could move properly.

"I'll be forty-eight this coming May."

"…Happy early birthday." Tails then charged at Robotnik, swiping at him with his namesakes, only for the man to jump back at the last second, barely getting the front of his coat sliced by the tails. The fox then leapt over Robotnik's head, landed right behind him before sweep kicking the man to the ground. However, Robotnik grabbed Tails' leg, and tripped the fox before getting back on his own feet. He then grabbed the downed fox, holding him under the arms, and turned to Decoe and Bocoe.

"_What is he doing?"_ Bocoe questioned as Robotnik brought a struggling Tails over to the two robots. Robotnik held Tails firmly in front of them, silent as he looked at their confusion. After about twenty precious seconds of what limited Power Ring time that Tails had left passed, Robotnik sighed.

"I believe you've heard of 'tag-team wrestling?'" the scientist questioned. Decoe, realizing what the doctor wanted him to do, rammed a metal fist into the fox's stomach, making Tails exhale a sharp breath. Robotnik smiled, "Thank you," before turning and throwing Tails as hard as he could.

Tails coughed as he struggled to get up off the cold, metal floor. _'…Maybe I should've taken Tanaka's martial arts lessons,'_ Danny groaned in pain to Miles. _'That way, I wouldn't be getting my ass kicked as hard.'_

'_**Hey,'**_ Miles retorted, _**'I'm getting my butt handed to me, too. I shouldn't have thought that professional wrestling was entirely fake; otherwise, I'd watch it, more. Also, the fact that he has at least 30 years of experience with the sport doesn't help. We only have about 1 minute left for Ring power, by the way.'**_

'_Is that… why I'm feeling exhausted?'_ Danny questioned.

'…_**Yep.'**_

"It seems you're running out of steam, Tails," Robotnik announced, shaking the fox out of his trance. "This is rather disappointing, considering what you did to my Egg Tarantula. Perhaps, you're not one for hand-to-hand?"

"I admit to that," Tails breathed, wiping what sweat was on him off of his brow. The next thing he knew, Robotnik swiftly kicked him across the face, knocking him down.

"It's too bad," Robotnik sighed as he walked over. "It seems those reports back in Maya about all types of Mobians being stronger than humans proved false a bit. Still, the Chaos Morpher that I built for my new guardian friends must have been activated by now."

"So you… did build a Morpher?" Tails asked. "How do you… even know… they exist?" Robotnik then pinned a dirt covered boot to his face. It seemed that Robotnik was walking in the wilderness somewhere prior to this battle and forgot to clean his boots.

"I know, because my grandfather made the original blueprints for the Chaos Morpher. Not that it matters, now, that I have the Master Emerald and one Chaos Emerald. So, even if you and your ally Sonic somehow capture the other Emeralds before me, I'll just nullify their power." Tails then grabbed Robotnik's foot, and threw him off towards his minions before turning his attention back to the previous mission- protecting Helen so Chris doesn't kill him for it.

'_**Only twenty-nine seconds left,'**_ Miles remarked.

'_Understood,'_ Danny replied as Tails took flight, heading towards the rafter that the Egg Tarantula was on with Helen. _'Since I'm apparently not trained enough to take on Robotnik in a fair fight-'_

'_**Which would be kind of pathetic if it wasn't for the fact that Swift is at least twice as strong as I am,'**_ Miles added.

'_I may as well just destroy the rafter manually, and grab Helen before she falls.'_ Tails' namesakes soon started to spin fast enough to start sending off electricity as he landed on the rafter, facing Helen.

"Wow," Helen yelled over the wind caused by the tails' rotation while looking at the battered fox. "What happened down there?"

"It turns out… I underestimated your captor in a fist fight," Tails admitted while taking his rifle off. "Now, you may wanna cover your ears… this could get loud." He then backed up enough of a distance to right in front of the Egg Tarantula before dropping the rifle, letting the sparks hit it. Sure enough, that provided quite a bit of heat, both exterior and interior. The molecules inside of the Power Rings started to react, making the rifle heat up a bit more. Tails then jumped away from the large, metal spider scooped up Helen, and flew off as the Dummy Ring Rifle exploded, taking a huge chunk of the rafter- Egg Tarantula and all- with it.

Tails landed on top of another metal box. He collapsed with Helen in his arms bridal style, exhausted from the Ring's power. The two opted to watch the Egg Tarantula start to plummet to the ground… only for it to shoot a web towards the ceiling, stopping its imminent death. The spider safely lowered itself towards the ground, while Robotnik laughed, "That was very clever, Tails- trying to use the moment of my robot's inactivity to destroy it. However, the Egg Tarantula _just_ got back online! And you're not looking so hot… it's a shame, really. Perhaps you could've lived long enough to control those powers of yours."

"You're not… making me feel better," Tails sighed as the Egg Tarantula slowly stalked its way over to their crate. Suddenly, two blurs- one dark red and the other dark blue- slammed straight through the Egg Tarantula's head, spraying oil everywhere. Sonic and Knuckles soon were on the crate as well.

"Are we even?" Sonic asked while taking Helen off of Tails' hands, remembering the incident when Tails rescued him from falling to his death.

"We're even," Tails sighed, adjusting his jaw. "Though I'm going to need to sleep this fight off." Helen was a bit confused about their conversation, but decided not to ask about it. Instead, her eyes were on the newcomer echidna, as were Tails. "Is that…?"

"Yeah, it's him," Sonic whispered. "But he's pissed at the guy who set him up, not us." Looking down, he spied Robotnik, and voiced, "I take it you're 'The Eggman?'"

"More or less," Robotnik answered. "But call me Robotnik. And is that my echidna friend with you?"

"I can't believe you lied to me, wrecked Angel Island, stole the Master Emerald who's protection is my purpose in life, and got me into a senseless and relatively pointless fight," Knuckles growled, his claws gleaming. "Did I mention that you got an innocent person involved in this?"

"I'm sorry I betrayed your trust," Robotnik stated while pulling out a remote, and pushing the button. "But it was the only way I could succeed in ensuring the rise of the Robotnik Empire. I assure you it will be amazing." Just then, a floating, egg shaped chair appeared out of nowhere, allowing the scientist to board it. "Goodbye, Team Sonic… May we meet again!" Decoe and Bocoe quickly grabbed onto the sides of the floating chair, and the three flew out the large window in the back. Knuckles jumped into the air, attempting to grab his chair, but ultimately fell to the ground. Sonic- still holding Helen- and Tails landed near the somewhat sulking echidna.

"…sorry," Sonic honestly said to Knuckles. The echidna held a hand up.

"No, don't be," Knuckles replied. "This is my fault, Sonic. By gut instinct, I shouldn't have believed him. However, I fell for his kindness… as you can see, I don't have too many actual people I can trust."

"Aw," Helen spoke up, "that's so sad. I'm sorry for your loss, um…"

"Call me Knuckles, friend of Sonic," the echidna smiled at the girl. "But don't feel bad for me. I'm the one that should apologize- I got you all wrapped up into this- especially you as that man kidnapped you to get to Sonic."

"Speaking of you," Sonic spoke up to Helen as he gave her a calling card, "I've got to get you to Sam Speed before all hell breaks loose. He said that your friends are worried sick about you." The three Neo Mobians walked towards the exit, all silent. Though one was thinking about something said.

'_**Team Sonic, huh?'**_ Swift smiled. _**'Chris, you think it will stick?'**_

'_Swift, is now a good time for this?'_ Chris scowled.

'_**But will it?'**_

Sure enough, once they got outside, the four were greeted by several armed police officers. Hector Drags was twirling a set of handcuffs around his fingers. "Alright you three," Hector ordered. "Put the girl down and surrender yourselves, and only you will get hurt."

"Shouldn't that be 'and nobody will get hurt?'" Tails asked, nursing his sore ribs from his botched fight with Robotnik.

"I know what I said," Hector growled. "Now, hand her over."

"Hey," Sonic questioned, "we helped save her life, and _this_ is the 'thanks' we get? Can we talk with your superior?"

"The commissioner is on vacation this week," Hector replied, getting annoyed with their defiant behavior.

"Who said we were talking about him?" Tails coyly smiled. "We meant Samuel Speed. Where's he?"

"Right over here," Sam announced, walking onto the scene. "Man, there are a lot of warehouses on this pier. Even if I'm the Speed King, it takes forever to check every single one. Now, you wanted to see me?" Sonic calmly walked over, and handed Helen over.

"If you ever want a rematch," Sonic told Sam as he gave Helen to him, "make sure not to bring your whole damn team. They make it kind of hard to survive getting to you. A good one-on-one would suffice." He then ran over to his fellow Neo Mobians, grabbing them by the wrists, and ran off, leaving the police stunned. Hector was about to go after them, only to be stopped by Sam raising his hand.

"Hector, enough," Sam announced. "We only came to deal with the hostage situation- capturing Sonic would've only been a plus. Besides, I want to arrest him on my terms, not with the help of some random source." Sam looked at his nephew's closest friend, and asked, "Wanna go see Chris before I get you home?" Helen slightly nodded.

---

**Thorndyke Manor- 17:01**

Chris opened the door to find Helen, being carried by Sam, staring back at him. Chris sighed, "Thank god, Uncle Sam!" He then hugged his best friend as tightly as he could.

"It's good to see you too, Chris," Helen smiled at him, returning the hug.

"Do I get a hug, soon enough?" Sam laughed at this little moment. Chris humorously pulled him into the hug while Swift walked to the front door.

"Hey, Chris," the hedgehog Chao asked with a question mark over his head, "is everything alright?" Sam looked at the dark blue hedgehog Chao over his nephew's shoulder, as did Helen. Swift, surprised enough to see that that had company, gasped, "Oh, hey Helen! I heard about you getting kidnapped… is everything alright?"

"Oh, Swift," Helen smiled as the Chao walked over to the scene. "I'm fine, now. Sonic had a part in saving me, along with his new friends in Team Sonic."

'_**Sweet, it sticks!'**_ the hedgehog Chao mentally grinned as the others broke their hug and they all headed for Sam's car. Out loud as Helen was gently placed in the car, Swift stated, "So, Sonic the Hedgehog has his own team now? Sounds like the beginnings of a league of extraordinary creatures."

"I don't know whoever or whatever Sonic is and what he's forming this team for," Sam voiced, "but he seems like a good enough guy if he's willing to stick his neck out for people. If it wasn't for the fact that he's a vigilante who isn't even human, I'd probably be able to convince the Commissioner to let Sonic be. Unfortunately, I do have a job to keep, and what the boss says, goes. I have to bring Sonic in next time we meet."

Chris mentally sighed at the statement. Of all of the people Chris would hate to face, especially under his given circumstances, his uncle had to be in the top ten. Sam did joke around a lot, but there were three things that Sam Speed took seriously- family, his title as "Fastest Thing Alive," and his job as a police officer. And Sonic- who unbeknownst to him was his own nephew- had secretly fallen into all three categories.

'_If my uncle starts playing serious hardball and if we can't get a commissioner who _likes _Sonic,'_ Chris mentally voiced, _'I am so screwed.'_

"Hey, Chris," Helen announced, making the boy snap out of his thoughts. "Speaking of Sonic, about a couple weeks ago when he saved me and you didn't get to… don't worry about it, okay? Sonic's involvement in saving my life twice now- with or without his friends- has no impact on our friendship, alright?" Chris raised an eyebrow at that. Helen twirled her hair on her finger, her cheeks bright red, as she explained, "Well, you seem a bit stressed ever since it happened, is all."

"Oh," Chris realized, nervously blushing at the statement. Helen had mistook all of the stress of working as Sonic as guilt for being unable to save her that first time as his normal self. "Um, thanks, Helen. I needed that pep talk."

"So, I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yep." Sam had to chuckle at the two teenagers' awkward conversation.

"Alright lovebirds," Sam laughed as he climbed in the car, making the two blush even redder than before, "I hate to break this up, but I have to return Miss Rose to her family before her mother has a cow with me… again." Both Helen and Sam waved goodbye to Chris before they sped off.

"Tell Amy I said 'hi!'" Swift called after the car. The Chao then had a question mark over his head as he turned to Chris. "What did your uncle do to Helen's mom?" the Chao questioned. Chris turned to Swift, and waved his hands at it.

"It's a long story involving 1980s' music, high amounts of sedatives, Mr. Tanaka, and a piñata. You don't want to know." Turning to the house, he said, "Okay guys, they're gone." Ahaw Kin and Spike poked their heads out from behind the door, curious looks on their faces.

"You mean that man was your uncle?" Ahaw Kin asked as he and Spike walked out to talk to them. "Sonic, you have an odd life."

"Yeah, I know," Chris smiled. "Uncle Sam may be a little weird, but my life wasn't normal _before _I became Sonic. He's nice when you get to know him." The boy then extended his hand to Ahaw Kin. "So, let's try this again- I'm _Chris._ Not 'Sonic' when I'm a human." Ahaw Kin then smiled, and shook Chris' hand.

"You may call me Ahaw Kin… and my Chao is Itzamna." Spike had a swirl over his head at that statement.

"I thought we agreed that we'd called me 'Spike!' I _hate_ my birth name!" the red echidna Chao ranted. Ahaw Kin had to laugh at that statement.

Chris then asked, "I know this sounds sudden, Ahaw Kin and Spike… but do you know about the Chaos Emeralds?"

"I was practically raised in their knowledge," the guardian admitted. Swift produced his dark blue Chaos Emerald for the two to see. "The Chaos Emerald of Wind… how long have you had it, Sonic?"

"Chris. And Swift said he's had it for as long as he can remember."

"It's the last thing I have of my mother, and I'll be damned if I let it go without a fight," Swift simply explained.

"Anyways," Chris announced, changing the subject, "it turns out that we're part of a mock hero business trying to find all seven of these things before they fall into the wrong hands. We have this one and Dr. Naka, the woman that was with us yesterday has the green Chaos Emerald. Just yesterday, Swift and Miles, the fox Chao from earlier, were seeking new recruits to the business."

"I'll be honest," Swift continued, "I was kind of looking forward to recruiting Chris' other friend Frances, but until I can read her Chaos Energy levels, I have to hold that decision. You guys, however, already have a Morpher, and you've proven to be capable fighters, evenly matching us at the docks. Not to mention with your knowledge about the Emeralds, we can skip several steps into getting you on board- including the wordy dialogue, filling you in on what may happen with the Emeralds, and building an actual Chaos Morpher!"

"So, the huge question is this, Ahaw Kin," Chris finished. "Can I ask you and Spike to join- I can't believe I'm saying this because of how egotistical it sounds- 'Team Sonic?'" Ahaw Kin and Spike turned to each other, raising their eyebrows.

"…Um, not to sound rude or anything," Ahaw Kin replied, "but… can we _truly_ trust you guys not to trick us?" Swift had a question mark over his head yet again.

"We _did_ get our Master Emerald stolen by the same guy that duped us into attacking you," Spike explained. "What's to say that you wouldn't do the same to some other organization that are after the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Tell you what!" Swift smiled with an exclamation point over his head now. "We'll make you our first hero clients! We'll steal _back_ your Master Emerald for you in exchange for your guys' help in our quest." Ahaw Kin and Spike looked at each other again.

"We'll… think about it…" Ahaw Kin answered.

"Master Chris! Master Kin!" Tanaka called from inside the house. "Dinner's ready."

"This veggie chili Ella made is delicious!" Miles yelled. "No, seriously, I didn't even know you could make this!" The two teens, and their defining Chao, chuckled as they walked inside.

"We'll talk about this after school tomorrow, okay?" Chris told Ahaw Kin.

"What is school?" the guardian questioned. Chris had to remind himself that this was Ahaw Kin's first interaction with normal culture. This was the start of an interesting friendship.

---

**Danny:** So, let me get this all straight. You agreed that our trip to Guatemala would feature us helping a guy that wanted to kill you over a large Emerald to find said Emerald?

**Chris:** I know it sounds stupid, but at least get to see my parents again, as we arrive on my mom's birthday.

**Swift:** Besides, not only do we get our third team member should we succeed, but Miles and I can finally show you our house!

**Miles:** It is about time we showed you guys. Besides, if Robotnik found the plans to the Morphers, I wanna be the first to know. Our mission to find the Chaos Emeralds could be in jeopardy because of it.

**Chris:** Next time, on _Sonic Chao Chronicles: _"Surprise! A Birthday Treasure Hunt!"

**Swift:** Just try to keep up with me!

---

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay guys… this took FOREVER! God dang! I'll be honest with you; this was a pain to write. Now, a bit of changes: Panama never was a part of the Maya Empire, so I edited Angel Island to be off the coast of Guatemala. Also, when I was planning for Knuckles to join, I didn't honestly plan for it to be connected to Chris' family life. Well, I've bored you enough, here's your radio host.

Edge's Corner: Alright, and with my guest, Sam Speed.

Sam: 'Sup? So, what's the first review say?

**Salamander Hanzo by Edge:** Yeah, it is! I mean, I've had real tea, and I'll be honest… I never felt so freaking alive in my life.

**SuperSpeed by Sam:** Like the penname, bud. And, although it's not my place to say, I think the kid's name is "Ahaw Kin." And what are Dummy Rings?

Edge: You're best off not knowing. Next!

**Sozic by Edge:** Okay, I don't have a degree in "leet," buddy. But I at least can tell the author you liked Sonic vs. Knuckles.

**Zohaku by Sam:** You know, I found no evidence of a struggle with Sonic or the police. I did see that Tails kind of looked like crap, though. But now that the author knows you're not a Jedi… he wants to know if you can read minds.

**Yumi no Anime by Edge:** You're welcome. It's nice to have a new reviewer, even if they are anonymous.

**White Hunter by Sam:** I think they all got out very well. Now, if these are all the comments, I gotta go.

Kingdom Rider92: And that takes care of that. I will see you later! Kingdom Rider92 out!


	15. Maria's Log Entry 2

A/N: Well, I know a lot of people are waiting for the next episode of _Sonic Chao Chronicles._ Well, it's nowhere near complete, yet. However, since my birthday has gone and past (It was on April 10, by the way), I'd figure I'd give you all a treat.

Now, remember at the start of the fanfiction where I said Maria Robotnik II would help move the story along with her personal journals? Well, Maria has recently updated her journals! So, why don't we look at one of those?

* * *

_**Personal Diary Log- Entry 2**_

_**Neo Mobians, Mayan Thieves, and the Master Emeralds**_

"_Wow. When was the last time I wrote in this journal? So many things have happened since I last wrote that I don't even know where to begin._

"_Well, for starters, I just discovered more to the hieroglyphic inscription in the city of Tikal that my great grandfather found that may explain a shocking development of events. The human and Chao who become the being of the wind will revive the Mobian species using the power given to him by all seven Chaos Emeralds. I know this sounds ridiculous, but so far, I think the prophecy has come true, thanks to my uncle, Ivo, and his madness to attempt to take over the world to avenge my great grandfather and what the planet did to the Robotniks._

"_There have been reports halfway across the United States of the acts of an odd blue vigilante by the name of 'Sonic the Hedgehog' who has been battling the robotic forces of my uncle. However, the only reason that he is considered a vigilante hero is because of his own nature; he is a Mobian, which is an extinct race of creatures, mind you, and people fear the unknown. About a full two weeks after, a new Mobian named 'Tails the Fox' showed up. And just recently, a third Mobian named 'Knuckles the Echidna' has arrived. Although these three are quite the rogue heroes, there can only be one explanation as to why there are only three Mobians and not the entire species revived._

"_When my great grandfather had been researching the hieroglyphics before me, he had a thought to bring back the Mobians. He created blueprints for a device capable of fusing what little Mobian DNA contained within our world's developing Chao population with human DNA to allow humans to become something more than human. However, when he presented the idea to both the United States government and Soviet government laughed at the idea. They claimed that not only was it impossible to revive the Mobians, but it was too dangerous to even attempt. It was predicted that the negative side effects would make the subjects used in the process hideous, monstrous mutants for life hell bent on destruction, or could even possibly kill the subjects. Even if the subjects fused together survived the combination process 100% in-tact, they wouldn't have the perfect control over their powers, so they could cause more harm than good. It sounded like a graphic novel brought to life and gone horribly wrong. So, at the risk of having his funding cut off for his research, my great grandfather had no choice but to abandon the device concept altogether. As much as I love following in the _good_ parts of my great grandfather's footsteps, I still find the entire concept of resurrecting a species that had superpowers by using humans and Chao ridiculous. However, I shouldn't talk, because right now, I'm currently _living_ through it._

"_When I first heard of Sonic and his victory over one of my uncle's robots in order to save a girl around my age followed by the overcoming of the entire Speed Team, I immediately asked my parents to take me on a trip to the location of the Mayan Empire- Guatemala- for three reasons. The first is that my great grandfather's last known location on Earth before he heard of the ARK tragedy which killed the first Maria and he went mad was in the Petén region of Guatemala. If I was going to get anything on the new hero Sonic and how he came to this world, I should start by searching for any evidence of my great grandfather's research. Also, with all of the insanity happening in Station Square now, there's no way my parents will take me there to observe Sonic and his newfound allies. For the second reason why, it was because the hieroglyphics that I was looking into happen to originate in Maya. Perhaps I could get some more research about the Chaos Emeralds done, as the Mayans seemed to be fascinated with them. Considering all of the other research done, the Emeralds just don't seem to fit in the stories of the Mayan Empire. As for the third reason… my dad met my mom here when he was on his way to research the Aztecs and my mom was studying abroad for her major in fashion. I felt that the place they met and fell in love would encourage them to take me._

"_Now, considering our relationship with my great grandfather, I felt like my dad could know about my pursuit in this research. Dad is comfortable, but he doesn't want the Chaos Emeralds to ruin my life like it did my great grandfather's, considering his research eventually took the life of my aunt Maria. I suppose that's why I keep this personal log- so I _don't_ go and ruin myself. So I look back at my mistakes… my great grandfather's mistakes… my uncle Ivo's mistakes… if I don't go back and reflect on my mistakes, I may end up destroying the Robotnik name completely. The Robotniks before me have been responsible for terrible tragedies. I am the latest generation, so several world leaders have been keeping a close eye on me since I was born. Whatever I do with my life will either make or break the trust of the world with the Robotniks, so I must realize what I have done wrong and rectify it._

"_Like right now… in my reflection, I almost forgot to write about my findings. One day during our trip, my parents and I came across a Mayan structure that looked like it had been occupied almost a month ago. While that does seem odd enough, the weirdness doesn't stop there. Inside, we discovered the blueprints for an odd device. After studying said blueprints for a few hours, my dad concluded that the device built with the blueprints could- with the aid of a large source of Chaos Energy- recreate the Mobian species. My mom has been with my father long enough to know some bits about Chaos Energy, and was skeptical that the device could be built. But several villages near the Mayan house confirmed several materials needed to build the device had been stolen by a mysterious blue being that moved too fast for the naked eye, and the raids stopped just two weeks prior to Sonic's debut. Nobody was hurt, but these little raids perked my interest._

"_Also, comparing the notes on the blueprints to my great grandfather's notes already within my possession, I had obtained an 89% match in the writing style. I say that much, because there were little scribble marks that looked made by a Chao. Perhaps the Chao that found and understood these notes did some shopping with the locals, somehow obtaining a Chaos Emerald in the process, built the Morpher, made slight edits to the notes as he or she went, and eventually traveled to America for one reason or another to become Sonic with a boy. These raids, the edits to my great grandfather's research, and Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles' appearances cannot all be coincidences. No, I think they are all connected. I'll leave it alone for now, as I've started losing sleep because of it._

"_Anyways, as for any of the hieroglyphics, other than I've already described, I have yet to figure out anything important of the inscription. Well, what I have found so far is something about the Master Emerald and its legacy._

"_In my last entry, I covered the origins of the Chao, the Chaos Emeralds, and the Master Emerald. After the leader of the Chao and the Echidna princess sacrificed their lives to stop Chaos, the Chaos Emeralds scattered across the planet, leaving their controller- the Master Emerald- alone. The Chao, now free to explore Earth, left their island disguised spaceship. Well, almost all of them. After the Echidna tribe attacked their island to steal the Chaos Emeralds for power and destroy the Master Emerald to dispose of a threat- as well as the idea that their god and the spirit of their leader sealed inside the Emerald- there was no way they could afford to leave the Master Emerald unguarded._

"_In Chao customs, the leader of the Chao was responsible for protecting the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald. They spent their life learning the basics as to how to control the Master Emerald should the Chaos Emeralds fall into the wrong hands. As their life drew to a close, they would select a new Chao to become leader. However, their current leader never picked an heir before her untimely demise. Luckily, she had a younger brother who used the Chao's ability to take animal DNA to absorb the might of a dead echidna to become strong enough to guard the Master Emerald. Echidnas were the strongest of Mobians- their war experience was proof enough._

"_After most Chao had left the island, the new guardian began his duty. He did have a mate who also had echidna DNA. The echidna Chao soon became the prime guardian of the now eighth wonder of the world- the Master Emerald. However, their strength made them in high demand for work, making them rare… now echidna Chao have spread out to desolate places, but they tend to come to their original island at least once every twenty years._

"_As I said before, the Master Emerald is said to be the one thing that could stop the Chaos Emeralds alone, as long as someone knew the right incantation to activate it. I have started researching the prayer, only to find that some of the words are missing in the inscriptions written in Maya. If my uncle should find the seven Chaos Emeralds before I do, then I must make haste with my research and complete the spell so I can nullify the powers of the Chaos Emeralds with one move._

"_Speaking of the Emeralds, I've found a bit about them and the powers they control. So far, at least three of the Chaos Emeralds seem to be accounted for: the dark blue Emerald of Wind, the forest green Emerald of Earth and Life, and the light blue Emerald of Water. The Wind Chaos Emerald in Sonic's possession, should he truly use it in its destructive way, can whip up tornados and rip through entire cities. However, the Emerald would supply wind power to light cities, can help keep things afloat, and help clear thick fogs. I think the superhuman speed he is known for has to do with overexposure to it, but at least he's using the Emerald for good. The Emerald of Earth and Life, also in his possession, can create earthquakes, level mountains, and even grow huge forests that could overgrow and destroy towns. Well, that's all according to research, as Sonic or any of his allies have yet to use it. I've heard that it is the de facto leader of the Emeralds when they are away from their Master, as it is the only one capable of healing living organisms, growing beautiful gardens, and provide safe passageways. For my uncle's Emerald of Water, it can bring forth tsunamis, freeze lakes, and cause massive floods. It sounds like this Emerald was Chaos' favorite, as he did flood the planet to kill the Mobians according to ancient times. However, the Emerald can be used to supply water, stop a rather dangerous avalanche, and even quell a storm. _

"_I plan to head to Russia, as there have been reports of Chaos Energy uprisings there, as well as sudden power surges, unpredictable thunderstorms, and flash fires. However, those fires would stop suddenly, those power outages would end in a heartbeat, and the city of Moscow hasn't been brighter in years at night. Perhaps it is the yellow Emerald of Lightning and Fire, as the Emeralds of Death, Madness, and Power shouldn't have anything to do with that. For the violet Emerald of Death, it can bring about great plagues that take the lives of millions, and- I can only hope this is but a rumor- revives the souls of the dead. Yeah, zombies… I hope that's a rumor. It would only work if there is a body for the soul to return to, if it isn't just a rumor…. Moving on! I've heard that Death can be good to end one's suffering, and even kill deadly viruses and diseases. The Emeralds of Madness and Power seem to work with each other better as a pair than the others. The white Emerald of Madness has the ability to bring forth hallucinations, create mass panic, cause mental disorders and even create nightmares, but could actually bring the mind- one of the most dangerous weapons at human disposal- to peace. For the red Emerald of Power, it has caused power struggles, started plenty of official and unofficial wars, and has made even the most pacifistic person alive into a bloodthirsty savage. It may even give its wielder superhuman strength to rival a Mobian echidna or an Alaskan Cat. The Emerald can be used to create peace, though. It can also be used for rescuing those in danger and end hostility among nations. I don't know why Chaos created these Emeralds, but they're too dangerous in unknowing hands. That is why the Master Emerald is Earth's only hope to end their threat for destruction._

"_Speaking of the Master Emerald itself, I think I found the mysterious island that it hides on. The island is off the coast of Guatemala, floating approximately one thousand miles above sea level. Yes, floats. I know it sounds absurd, but nothing else in my research has made sense according to the laws of physics. I tried to go to the island, but several archeologists who had been thoroughly beaten by something they were too scared to describe said that for safety purposes they sealed off the route until further notice._

"_So, I was forced to cut my research short for now. After quickly making a copy of those notes for the device, my family decided to return to America. The materials required to make a Morpher should not take long to gather in an urban area… but right now, I'm worried about the Master Emerald. What role will it play in the war my uncle has engaged America in? If the device that may have made Sonic is exposed to the Master Emerald, will it be affected? Speaking of Sonic, where does his new ally Knuckles stick in with all of this? Is he in America because something happened to the Master Emerald?_

"_I end this second log in confusion. Could Sonic have something to do with this ancient prophecy? Will Mobians soon walk the Earth yet again? If they do, will the Echidna clan try to take back their dominance over the world? Or is this all some sort of cosmic coincidence? All I know is that I am no longer drinking an entire six-pack of Chaos Cola before I go to bed. That stuff is tasty, but it has been giving me nightmares that I would not wish to confine within you at this time. I might in the next entry, as I need more information to confirm if the aforementioned nightmares prove to just be an illusion of too much soda before going to sleep… or a harbinger of Chaos."_

_**End Personal Log of Maria Robotnik II**_

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Well, that should give you a little insight as to what's going on in Maria's head. Now, why she goes off on little tangents is to show that despite the fact that she's a super genius due to her family lineage, she's still a human teenage girl.

As I said before, Maria helps move some of the plot around. She usually appears between arcs so that new readers who are too lazy to read everything about an arc (trust me, I've done so once or twice) a brief overview of what happened from her perspective, and a little bit of information as to what's going on next. She also gives a bit of insight on each of the Emeralds' powers in this entry. Now, a brief summary of said powers:

Emerald of Earth and Life (Green): Allows the user to control the very ground on which they stand, and heal non-fatal wounds. The leader of the Emeralds due to its ability to cause the most harm or good in the shortest amount of time.

Emerald of Water (Light Blue): Allows the user to have control over water in all of its forms. It also has the ability to control different liquids. Chaos' personal favorite for reasons unknown.

Emerald of Death (Violet/Purple): Allows the user to play death god and kill anything with any method. Rumored to also allow the user to raise the dead. However, one must have high control in order to use the Emerald properly, otherwise they could kill themselves. The most difficult to use due to said required control. It is considered the "evil" Emerald.

Emerald of Wind (Dark Blue): Allows the user to create and manipulate the dangerous force of wind and air. Possible side effects due to overexposure include superhuman speed. The weakest of the Emeralds due to the little control required to use it properly and the lowest destructive capability. If anything, it is considered the "good" emerald.

Emerald of Lightning and Fire (Yellow): The second dual type emerald, allows the user to control electricity in all forms and create fire on a whim. It is considered the disaster Emerald, and the second most difficult to use since one has to manipulate what they want the Emerald to do.

Emerald of Power (Red): Allows the user superhuman strength and can cause a massive bloodlust among populations. The Emerald that can cause or end a war in a mere heartbeat. It takes the longest amount of time to cause harm or good, but is the second in command of the Emeralds.

Emerald of Madness (White): Allows the user to manipulate the brain patterns of living beings, creating mass panic and hysteria. Considered the second weakest due to how easy it is to control, but works quite well with its sister Emerald of Power.

There. Seven Chaos Emeralds. Now, who's next on the comment show, Edge?

Edge's Corner: Well, nobody, as I wasn't really planning a broadcast. Instead, I have a little contest for the readers at home. We all know that a frequently asked question for any fan fiction that got popular is, "Can I be in this?" Well, let me let you in on a little secret- by the time this first story is over, Chaos Morphers will be in the hands of a lot of special groups. Hell, even my owner will have a Chaos Morpher! Now, the question is, will your original character have one by the start of _Chaotic Adventures?_

Well, it turns out that several groups are looking for recruits. I am part of one such group- thank Chaos nobody actually listens to this radio show. We need several characters to show up in _Chaotic Adventures._ Your perks are you get to premiere in season 2 of _Chao Chronicles;_ you get to hang with this radio host doing pirate radio, and get to travel around the whole world. Unfortunately, I haven't made the t-shirts, yet.

Now, in Kingdom Rider92's profile page is a sign-up form, and a sample as to what he's looking for. Rules in order to fill out the form are also there as well. The deadline will be June 15.

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Um, yeah… I was originally going to wait until the end of _First Lap,_ but at this point, it'll take forever. Like Edge has said, the rules, registration form, and example are all in my profile page- which I've heavily edited to fit my needs.

On a different note, why the crap did the people who make this site take away authors' ability to use the little hyphen marks as barriers? Seriously, it just freaking annoys me. And on that note, I've got to get ready for prom. Kingdom Rider92, out!


	16. Episode 6, Part 1

A/N: Welcome to the first real not-monster-of-the-week style story arc of _Sonic Chao Chronicles!_ Now that Team Sonic is finally set for a good majority of _First Lap,_ we can leave that format behind for a while. There will be at least two more episodes like that to introduce the last two Neo Mobians that will show up in _First Lap,_ but after those, don't expect to see it again 'till about halfway through Season 2. Okay, I've bored you enough, time for some plot.

* * *

**Flores, Guatemala- 10:21 Local Time**

A woman in her mid thirties with light brown hair, slightly tanned skin, an athletic figure, dark blue eyes, and wearing a sea green tank top over a white undershirt, brown cargo shorts, a pair of gun holsters around her waist, hiking boots, and a necklace with a wedding ring hanging from it was on the run through the streets of Flores. Several armed men were on her heels, desperate to catch her as she gracefully swerved through the stunned crowd in the island village.

"¡No deje que escapan a la mujer!" ("Don't let that woman escape!") one of the woman's pursuers shouted to his comrades.

The woman luckily knew enough Spanish to understand what the man just said, and only continued to dash through the streets. "Why is it that no matter where I go," the woman muttered to herself while looking back, "people want to kill me?" She turned back towards where she was going… only to skid to a halt when she realized that she was nearing the water. Looking back to her pursuers finally catching up to her, she groaned, "Aw, crap."

The men finally caught up, and quickly sealed off any possible escape routes. The leader of the men, a man in his mid-fifties with graying brown hair neatly combed back, dark tanned skin, hazel eyes, and a crooked smile wearing a clean gray vest over a light blue button shirt, black pants, fancy dress shoes, and a gold ring on his finger, walked toward the woman. The man simply questioned, "Now, now, Miss Rhodes… did you honestly think I would let you leave Guatemala with the Amulet of Tikal?"

"I was kind of hoping you would," the woman, Blair Rhodes, replied, nervously fingering at the right pocket of her tan cargo shorts. This didn't go unnoticed by the man. He pulled out an enforcer pistol, pointing it at the woman's head.

"Hand it over, Rhodes," the man threatened, "and I _just_ might let you live."

"What," Blair snarled, "so you can find the lost treasure of the echidna clan, including their greatest weapon to use for world domination, in Princess Tikal's tomb? I think not. And for your information, I am 'Mrs. Rhodes!'" The man glared at Blair with anger.

"The echidna clan of the Mobians once dominated half of this planet in ancient times with an iron fist!" the man snapped, taking the safety off of his gun. "They were a great tribe, but were foolish not to use their power to its fullest potential! I won't make that same mistake, Rhodes! Now, hand it over and help me find the Princess' Tomb, and I just may let you walk away!"

"So," Blair questioned, "I have two choices. I either die now, or help you and die later." With a scowl, she replied, "I'll take die now. I will have outlived my role in your little plot."

"I don't believe you understand the plight of your situation, Mrs. Rhodes," the man warned. "You are outnumbered, outgunned, and outsmarted. If you as much as sneeze without my permission, you are dead. I am in control of your life, now, Rhodes… now you're going to help me whether you want to or not!"

"CUT!" a man yelled. Blair, the man, and his henchmen all turned to a man in his late 50s wearing a red baseball cap over his gray hair, pale skin, green eyes that were beginning to lose their sheen, and wearing a tan vest over a white t-shirt and blue jean shorts walking towards them, along with a camera crew.

"What was wrong with that take, Mr. Springsteen?" Blair questioned, clearly confused. "I have all the lines memorized, and so does Ramon."

"No, no," Hollywood director Alex Springsteen assured them. "Both you and Ramon were _perfect_ in this scene, Lindsey. It's just that there's someone to see you." Blair Rhodes, who was actually Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke, raised one of her thin eyebrows at this announcement.

"Who?" Lindsey questioned. Just then, a certain brown haired boy walked out from behind the camera crew, wearing a green t-shirt, blue jean shorts, a light blue bucket hat, and a pair of tennis shoes. Beside him was a rather familiar pair of Chao- a blue hedgehog Chao and a two-tailed fox Chao. The boy was holding what appeared to be a rather carefully wrapped gift in his hand.

"Happy birthday, mom!" Chris grinned.

* * *

**Episode 6: Surprise! A Birthday Treasure Hunt!**

* * *

**Thorndyke Manor- Approximately 72 Hours Earlier**

"_So,"_ _Danny asked, looking at Ahaw Kin with a straight face, "let me get this all straight. You want us to help you recover the Master Emerald from Robotnik?"_

"_Yes," Ahaw Kin respectfully answered with a bow. "I would like your help, Tails."_

"'_Danny,'" Chris corrected. "When he's human like this, he's 'Danny.'" Danny didn't seem to notice this, as he instead turned to Chris._

"_Chris, aren't we already occupied with finding the seven Chaos Emeralds?" Danny honestly questioned._

"_True," Swift admitted. "But despite the fact that these guys tried to kill us over it, they were played by a common enemy we have like a violin."_

"_HEY!" Spike yelled at Swift, a swirl over his head._

"_I'm just saying the truth," Swift replied. "Anyways, we've already agreed to it, and since we found out that the Master Emerald could cost us our mission, and Ahaw Kin and Spike may join us in said task."_

"_We never truly said 'yes!'" Spike yelled at him._

"_Spike, please," Ahaw Kin whispered. The red Chao only nodded to his friend, and shot Swift a look that said, "This isn't over."_

"_There's a slight problem, though," Chris announced. "We have no idea as to where to look for the Master Emerald."_

"_I think I might," Miles spoke up, an exclamation mark appearing over his head. The fox Chao motioned the others- Chris, Swift, Danny, Chuck, Tanaka, Karin, Ella, Ahaw Kin, and Spike- over to the microscope that he was apparently playing with. They all noticed the dirt sample that Miles was looking at under the microscope._

"_Any particular reason why you're looking at dirt?" Spike and Swift asked at the same time, question marks over their heads._

"_If it wasn't for the fact you two hold a decent grudge on each other," Chuck laughed at the two Chao, "I would say you would be great friends." Turning to Miles, he asked, "But seriously, Miles, why _are_ you looking at dirt?"_

"_Well," Miles began, "back when Danny and I fought Robotnik for Helen's freedom, Robotnik had this very dirt caked onto his boots. I was curious as to where it was from, so I went back by myself after the police had left the warehouses to pick up a sample. And get this- this soil comes from the Tikal National Park in Guatemala. And it's only two or three days old, at best!"_

_Swift and Spike were both visibly confused by the fox Chao's findings, their question marks still evident. Ella simply explained, "This Robotnik guy was recently in Latin America."_

"_Oh," both Chao realized, the question marks fading._

"_I knew that," Spike covered his brief mental lapse, remembering that Robotnik came to him and Ahaw Kin. "I just wanted to see if the others knew."_

_Swift then realized something. "Miles, weren't we living in Guatemala before coming here?"_

"_Yeah, we were," Miles answered. "…Come to think of it, this Robotnik guy _did_ make a Morpher for Ahaw Kin. I think it's time we go back to investigate our old house."_

"_About time we went home," Swift grinned. "I was actually starting to get homesick. If we don't make any unnecessary stops, we can get back there with our speed within a week." Turning to the humans, Swift asked, "So, do you guys wanna come with us to the Mayan Empire?"_

"_Actually, yes," Chris answered. Danny looked at him in shock, surprised that Chris would actually be willing to help Ahaw Kin this soon. "Well, I know for a fact my mom is actually filming her latest movie in Guatemala. So, I'll be willing to go… if we can stop for my mom. But not by running though- it's too dangerous and long for us to do that, even with Hector fired. Besides, my dad wanted us to come with him on his private jet."_

"_Hold on," Danny scowled. "What about the _Tornado?_ We did not work on the plane for three months only for it to gather dust!"_

"_I know," Chris replied, "but we barely got away from GUN last time. If we use the plane, we're going to be shot at… again. And I don't know about you, but being blown to bits isn't very appealing."_

"…_That actually makes a great point," Danny realized. "I suppose it would be nice if I didn't have to play airborne chauffer for a change."_

"_I want as little trouble as possible if we're going to find this Master Emerald. Besides, dad and I find ways to communicate with mom and say 'Happy Birthday'… why not surprise her this year by coming on set? We could also cover it a little more by inviting Helen and Frances with their families' permission."_

"_I've been meaning to ask," Ahaw Kin interrupted, "but this Helen girl seems to be very important to you, Sonic. Could she perhaps be your future mate?" Chris' cheeks turned a deep red at the sudden question, while the others stifled a laugh but a confused Ahaw Kin and Spike._

"_Ahaw Kin," Swift chuckled, a heart over his head, "you have officially passed my initiation test to our still unnamed team, and I didn't even have to tell you it!"_

"_The initiation test involves embarrassing your human side?" Spike asked. "…Is there a time limit?"_

"_I might have one," Swift deviously smiled at Spike._

"_So it's settled, then," Chuck smiled. "We're going to Guatemala. And since Monday _is_ a day off of school, we have three whole days to find the Master Emerald."_

"_I will begin packing your things, Master Chris," Ella smiled, walking out of the room. Ahaw Kin looked at the woman leaving, clearly confused._

"_We're not leaving until Friday!" Chris called to Ella. Seeing he was either ignored or not heard, he turned to Ahaw Kin, "Hey, you and Spike can lay low between my house and Grandpa's, okay?"_

"_Uh… okay," Ahaw Kin nodded._

* * *

**Present Scene**

"Oh, Chris!" Lindsey squealed, pulling her son into a hug, which he awkwardly returned thanks to the present (which won't be revealed until later). "How long has it been since I last saw you?" Swift and Miles both had question marks over their head while looking back and forth from the woman to Chris. Swift then had an exclamation point above his head.

"Chris," the blue hedgehog Chao gasped, "your mom's _the_ Lindsey Speed from the _Ruin Raider_ movies! The same one that plays Blair Rhodes!" Everyone present finally turned their attention to the two Chao that were present, Lindsey releasing her son to get a good look at them.

"So these are the two Chao you were talking about adopting," Lindsey smiled, kneeling down to pet them, being careful with Swift's quills. Both Chao had a slight dreamy looking stare as their heads were rubbed, both having hearts over their heads. "You know, Chris," Lindsey reminisced, "when I was your age, I once had a Chao… she was a hedgehog Chao just like this one is. It is a shame that hedgehog and echidna Chao are so rare these days." She then stood up, and held a thinking pose while looking at them.

Staring at Miles, she muttered, "Yellow-orange fur, two tails, tool belt, flight goggles, white muzzle, and three hairs on head that just stick out…" Miles raised an eyebrow at Chris, who just nervously giggled. Lindsey snapped her fingers in excitement, and questioned, "Miles, right?" The fox Chao, upon hearing his name, instantly snapped his attention from the heir to the family fortune to his actress mother, an exclamation point obvious above his head.

"Uh, y-yes," Miles awkwardly answered. "I am."

"So that makes the dark blue, green eyed hedgehog Chao with the odd sunglasses, quills that stick out like spiky hair, odd bracelet on his left hand, and the look that he can't sit still longer than five minutes Swift, right?"

"I can sit still longer than five minutes!" Swift protested to Chris, a swirl over his head.

"You tried to bail on me and my friends when you first met them at the mall," Chris remembered. Turning to his mom, he asked, "So, how has everything been… aside from me ruining that chase scene, that is?"

"Oh yeah," Springsteen remembered. Realizing that Lindsey would probably bail to spend time with her son (which she didn't seem to get to do often with the movies she's in), the director announced, "Okay, guys, we can do this scene tomorrow. I'm calling it early for today!" Once everyone on the set just shrugged and went away, Springsteen smiled, "I suppose we all need a vacation from this movie."

"That's agreeable," Lindsey replied. Turning back to Chris, she asked, "So… is it just you, or are there others?"

"Mom," Chris rhetorically asked, "whenever I come to visit you on location for these movies you do, when do I ever come _without_ Mr. Tanaka or dad?"

"…Good point," Lindsey realized. "So, where are they?"

"You'll see," Chris replied, leading his mother and two Chao down the streets.

"And can I have your autograph?" Swift questioned. Chris stopped, looking down at the hedgehog Chao in confusion.

"You've seen my mom's movies, and this is the first time I'm hearing about it?"

"I never knew you were the kid of Lindsey Speed, and you never asked me if I've heard of her. We're even, here, Chris."

* * *

**A Local Café- 10:49**

"…Happy birthday to you!" the group, consisting of Chris, Danny, Frances, Helen, Tanaka, Karin, Chuck, Sam, Ella, Swift, Miles, Amy, and a man in his late thirties cheered for the woman of the hour (Lindsey). It was a rather cheerful celebration today- you only do turn 37 once in your life.

"Aw," Lindsey blushed, "Chris, Nelly, Sam, Ella, Tanaka… you all didn't have to do all of this!"

"Lindsey," the aforementioned man nicknamed "Nelly" but whose real name was Nelson, who had oak brown hair, tanned skin, dark blue eyes, and standing rather tall in his pale blue polo shirt and brown khaki shorts, said with a chuckle, "when have I _ever_ not pulled out all of the stops? Besides, this is better than what happened last year."

"What happened last year?" Helen, who was wearing a vanilla colored tank top and a pair of light blue shorts, questioned Chris. "Does this have anything to do with that odd fireworks display that went wrong?" He just turned to her, and shook his head in a fashion that said, "You're better off not knowing." Helen knew that Chris' family was rich enough to do some insane things- like buying a bunch of fireworks to say, "Happy Birthday, Lindsey!" However, said fireworks were faulty… and the rest will be left up to imagination.

Anyways, Chris decided that if there ever was a time to change the subject, now was the time. "So, mom," the boy began, "how has your filming gone?"

"Oh, that?" Lindsey asked, sounding half interested as she dug through a bag she had. "Promise you won't say anything- what happens in Guatemala stays in Guatemala. It's been alright, I suppose. Springsteen thinks the _Ruin Raider_ series has run its course with _Guardians of the Abyss._ As much as I'd like to admit that it's time for Blair Rhodes to hang up her history books for good, I don't think we should end like this."

"So," Swift questioned with a question mark above his head, "I've heard about _Guardians of the Abyss_ from Chris, but who exactly _are_ the 'Guardians of the Abyss' that are in the movie? I figured you'd say as long as I promised not to tell." Now this made Lindsey perk up.

"Why, there's only one thing they could be," Lindsey smiled as she found what she was looking for. "The long lost Mobian echidna clan!" She then placed a small book on the table in front of the group on the Mayan empire, earning surprised exclamation points over the heads of Swift and Miles, as well as shocked gasps from Karin, Tanaka, Ella, Chuck, Chris, and Danny.

"Honey," Nelson stated with a raised eyebrow, "you do realize that the Mobians, especially the echidnas, have nothing to do with the Mayan empire, right?"

"Actually," Lindsey smiled at her husband, "I've been doing some research on the Mayans, and get this- their culture, way of life, and even their structures are vaguely adopted from the echidnas, who have roamed these very lands centuries before modern humans rose up and took over the planet. One of the capital cities of Maya was even named after the Echidna princess prior to their extinction- Tikal."

"And that whole 'Amulet of Tikal' bit in the scene?" Miles egged on, interested. "Does that have anything to do with the echidna princess or the city? If so, how?"

"Well," Lindsey continued, getting into her little spiel, "it's just a stage prop here, as the real amulet is in a British museum… oh!" She then reached into her pocket, a pulled out a beautiful gold necklace with green and red bead jewels mixed in, looking like an ancient Mayan necklace. Lindsey sighed, "I can't believe I forgot to return this."

"That's beautiful, Mrs. Thorndyke!" Frances gasped. The girl was wearing a white sleeveless shirt that had the words, "LITTLE DEVIL," written on it in red letters, and a pair of magenta shorts. "And that's only the prop?"

"Well, yes," Lindsey sheepishly replied. "The real thing has authentic gold and jewels. The Amulet of Tikal is said to open up the lost tomb of the last echidna princess, Tikal, who was said to have been buried underneath the city that was named after her. However, that's only a rumor though… and that's the one we're going with for the movie."

"That's pretty cool," Amy and Swift openly voiced, hearts above their heads. Miles raised an eyebrow at the blue hedgehog Chao, a question mark over his own head. Did Swift _actually_ pay attention during that little speech? Miles calmed down, and poked Swift on the shoulder.

"Can I talk to you privately?" the fox Chao whispered into the hedgehog Chao's ear. Swift nodded, and the two Chao got up towards a nearby alley. Once Miles was sure they were out of the others' earshot, he announced, "Hey, Spike and Ahaw Kin, you guys can come out." Spike and Ahaw Kin, who were hiding behind a dumpster said ally, walked into the mix. Ahaw Kin was wearing a brown cowboy hat, a red poncho over a white t-shirt, a pair of light brown shorts, and a pair of dark brown boots.

"I thought you said 'privately!'" Swift hissed to the fox Chao.

"I did," Miles replied, "but I wanted to ask why you're so interested in Chris' family when we're here on two critical missions that could decide the fate of the world? You hardly ever pay attention to anything when it has nothing to do with our hero business or Chaos Emeralds."

"Team Sonic can afford to goof off," Swift retorted, using the name that the media has given them. "Besides, Miles, have you ever considered the idea that you don't know Chris or even Danny's family lives well enough to understand them? I mean, look at Ahaw Kin and Spike."

"What about us?" the echidna Chao interjected, a question mark over his head. Swift grinned.

"You two beat Chris and me in our battle because you two knew each other well enough to the point that, if you took away the species difference, one could say you guys have a brotherly bond." Turning to Miles, he asked, "Have you wondered what our boy Chris had to go through before we came into his life? Miles, I know it's a touchy subject, but do you even know your parents?" The fox Chao, who was going to interrupt Swift, had to stop and think. He honestly didn't have any memories of his own family- just being locked up in a Chao Garden in Panama, being busted out by Swift, and the two's adventures that ultimately lead up to this. He had no recollection as to who his family was, and why they abandoned him to such a life.

Swift then went on. "I may come from being raised by my mom before she died and gave me my Chaos Emerald without knowing who the hell my father is, but I can't say the same for Chris. Sure, since we share a mind when he and I are Sonic, I can read Chris' thoughts, but I will never be able to fully understand Chris, even if I had such a bond with him like Spike and Ahaw Kin. Have you noticed that this is the first time in our three weeks of being with him that we've met Chris' parents? Sure, the boy has Tanaka, but his parents have so hectic lives that he hardly ever sees them. I want him to enjoy himself… at least, today. Why don't we give them today off and head back to our old base this afternoon. It will only take us an hour at tops." Miles scratched his head, while Ahaw Kin smiled at the Chao's nobility.

"You failed to answer why you're so interested in Mrs. Throrndyke's stories," the fox Chao smirked. Swift chuckled, a heart over his head.

"I wanted to be sentimental there," the hedgehog Chao announced. "But if you must know, this is Lindsey Speed we're talking about. Why _wouldn't_ I be interested? Also, the idea that the Mayans were influenced by the echidnas? That's nuts!"

"So the Swift I know hasn't left," Miles smiled. Spike had to stifle a chuckle, while Ahaw Kin smiled at the three Chao.

"So," the human guardian asked, "when do we leave to your former home, Sonic?"

"Okay," Swift scowled, a swirl over his head, "I'm 'Swift,' the human we've been talking about is 'Chris,' and 'Sonic' is the Neo Mobian form of ours." Calming down, Swift then answered. "I suppose we can wait an hour or so… when do you wish to get your Master Emerald back from Eggman?"

"Robotnik," Miles corrected.

Ignoring that comment, Ahaw Kin explained, "Since S- oh, I mean, Chris- is busy today with his parents, I suppose we'll have to wait until tomorrow. But, I can do some scouting…."

"Good enough," Miles shrugged. "I'll tell Chuck and Dr. Naka about what you're doing. Do you know how to get to Tikal from Flores?"

"…I've snuck here once or twice," Ahaw Kin answered, embarrassed to admit that he shirked his responsibilities every once in a while.

"Good. Meet us there in about an hour and a half. Look around the park, and don't use too much Chaos Energy whatever you do. We only have two Chaos Emeralds and those batteries last only two hours without recharging. After which, you're back to human- I know, I've timed Chris."

"Hey, Swift, Miles?" Amy called, giving all three Chao exclamation points. "Where are you? Everybody wants to see where you two lived!"

"Coming!" Swift replied. Turning to Ahaw Kin and Spike, he asked, "On second thought, meet us in Tikal in a half hour. Pretend to be a guide or something… and look for a Mayan-like house." The young man nodded. Spike and Ahaw Kin then ran off, leaving Swift and Miles to meet with their friends.

* * *

**The City of Tikal- 11:30**

Swift got out of the bus, and eagerly stretched. "How is it that humans _enjoy_ being cramped up in those tight spaces!" the blue hedgehog Chao asked Amy as she stepped out of the bus. The pink hedgehog Chao had to giggle at him.

"The way you say it," Amy smirked, "it seems like you have claustrophobia or something."

"Hydrophobia, actually," Miles interjected, flying off the bus. "He still hasn't learned how to swim."

"Is it my fault that my superhuman speed costs me the ability to swim!" Swift questioned, a swirl over his head. "Anyways, I don't like using transportation that I could honestly outrun!"

"Too bad the rest of us can't move that fast," Miles chuckled.

"Have you two ever considered doing stand-up comedy?" Frances asked while getting off the bus herself, followed by Lindsey and Nelson.

"No, we're being downright honest," Miles answered her. "Swift does at least have hydrophobia." Looking at their current environment, Miles smiled, "It's good to be back after a month!"

"Yeah," Swift agreed, a heart over his head. "It feels like it's been years!"

"Hey, Swift?" Helen asked as she rolled her wheelchair up to him. "Out of curiosity, is your old home wheelchair assessable?"

"Well, yeah," Swift replied. "To be honest, though, the Mayans who built our house chose to do so on flat terrain. The elevation shouldn't be any higher or lower than we already are."

"That is indeed true," Ahaw Kin said as he walked up. Chris, Danny, Karin, Tanaka, Ella, and Chuck were all surprised by Ahaw Kin's sudden appearance. Also, the fact that he was wearing a red t-shirt under a tan vest, brown shorts, and black hiking boots. "Good day, ladies and gentlemen, I am Gregorio Garcia, and I will be your guide, today."

'_No way is anybody going to believe that a sixteen-year old kid is our guide,'_ Danny instantly thought.

"Aren't you a little young to be a tour guide?" Nelson questioned Ahaw Kin.

"Yes, but it's a part-time job," the guardian-in-disguise chuckled. "Also, it's kind of my first day… so, is there anything you want me to show you, first?"

"Well," Sam chuckled, "since everybody wants to see it, have you seen a Mayan house? Swift and Miles here have been claiming that they were living in one."

"As a matter of fact," Spike answered for Ahaw Kin as he walked up, "yes! We have seen a Mayan house of sorts!" Amy had a question mark over her head as she looked at the echidna Chao. "There's one this way, everybody. Follow me!" The group followed the red echidna Chao, Swift walking closer to Spike than anybody else.

"Nice job finding our house and playing tour guides," the hedgehog Chao smiled. "But what happened to the _real_ Tikal National Park tour guide?" A vision of hitting a man who was wearing the same uniform Ahaw Kin was currently wearing with a conveniently located soccer ball, dragging him into the broom closet, and stealing his uniform played out in the echidna Chao's head.

"He's indisposed," Spike simply waved off. "Now, by the way, Swift about your house…"

"I can't wait to see the house again!" the blue hedgehog Chao cheered with his eyes closed and a heart over his little head. "Oh man, I've been _longing_ to sleep in the little hammock we had _just_ set up before coming to America!"

"What the hell!" Karin gasped, bringing Swift out of his fantasy. The Chao looked to see a small set of Mayan buildings that had the doors ripped off, bullet holes through the walls, a huge tear in one of the roofs, scorched sides, a broken water well, and a tattered hammock hanging around. Swift and Miles stared at the house with stunned looks on their faces as their dots turned to swirls and the tears began to swell in their eyes.

Their original home had been destroyed.

* * *

**Human Card:** Helen Rose

**Occupation:** High school student

**Known Relatives:** Marcy Rose (Mother), Howard Rose (father), Amy (Chao)

**Hobbies:** Origami, playing with Chao, gardening

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Oh, who saw _that_ coming! Poor Swift and Miles… they lost their old home to an incident. What tragic luck. Still, they finally got to meet Chris' folks in this episode!

I know that the chapter's title hints to a treasure hunt, but I'll get to that. In the meantime, I'm not getting entries from you people! PLEASE join the contest! Hell, get your still semi-loyal _Sonic _fan friends to join! I still need people to be part of the organizations outside of Freelance! I'll extend the deadline to freaking September 16th if I have to!

Edge's Corner: Um, maybe I should just get Amy in here for comments. I'm a little behind…

Amy: Okay, so who's first?

**Salamander Hanzo by Amy:** Okay, in your first comment, _how_ did you make those hearts! I've wanted to do that! As for your second comment, um… I have a number for a good psychiatrist.

**Zohaku by Edge:** According to the author, you know too much. What's preventing him from doing something about it is that he finds your relationship too damn funny, you catching the reference to the _Sonic X_ comic that he was trying, and he has _no_ idea where you live. Also, the fact that you submitted a character.

As for Maria… well, he's finally got something about you stumped.

**White Hunter by Amy:** Yeah, our author's pretty hyped. This fan fiction is far more popular than his _Sonic Arcadia_ work so he has more motivation.

**SuperSpeed by Amy:** Oh, yes, actually. Ahaw Kin is another name for a Mayan sun god, if I've been studying my mythology correctly. The actual name was something like Kinich Ahau, but that doesn't roll off the tongue as easily. Itzamna is actually a misspelling of Itzamal, the Mayan city that Ahaw Kin was patron god of.

Also, I am very glad to see that somebody caught the reference. The author said something among the lines of "considering how in current action cartoons that the good guy team name happens to be the name of the main character, why not?" It clashes well enough with Chris' desire not to make Sonic egocentric, but everybody's calling them that since Sonic showed up first. Also, Sam Speed says you're welcome.

**Eidorian999 by Edge:** This is a long one to comment on. Okay, appreciate a lot of people liking Maria II. Keep in mind that this Maria is the youngest of a family of dejected scientists, and is only human. She would see her dreams as more than what they are, being a scientist, but worry that she's drinking too much soda, as a regular teen. In my opinion, the reason why the current generation of _Sonic_ games is falling through is due to too many characters to keep track of and not enough character development for them. Some characters only get one game and are barely ever spoken of in the series' continuity ever again! I mean, at least with the _Mario_ universe, the creators make sure to give characters spotlight rather than let them waste! Except for those killed off… Fawful…

Anyways, where was I? Oh, yeah, Emeralds. Yeah… the author realized with a title like "Chaos Emeralds," there had to be something that these Emeralds could do by themselves. So, he decided to give them elemental abilities to make their terror realistic… sort of like _Power Stone._ However, he didn't realize that _Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood_ beat him to the punch.

**Codex-The-Hedgehog by Edge:** Short and simple. Nice.

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: And with that, please people, join my contest, and get your friends to. I'm still accepting through e-mail! Kingdom Rider92, out!


	17. Episode 6, Part 2

A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry for the huge delay- I've been working on something (that random project I've been doing on deviantART) that has been just about as successful as this story. If you ever want to look it up, it's called _Ross' Fortune: The Golden Ho-Oh _by BladeSquall. Yes, it's a Pokémon fan fiction (you can tell by the word "Ho-Oh"), but it's a fan fiction for a fan comic series called _Random Doom _by BehindtG. Her work is amazing. But fret not, for I have some good news for you. It's time for some more _Sonic Chao Chronicles._

**

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**

Robot Card:

Bocoe

**Model:** E-0004

**Equipment:** Robot Link Drive, Heating Unit

**Purpose:** Road Buddy/Servant/Comic Relief Henchman

**

* * *

**

Swift and Miles' House… or what's left of it-

**11:36**

Nobody, not even Chris, had ever seen Swift and Miles cry before. It was an awkward sight to see two heroic and brave Chao shedding tears. But nobody could blame them- they had been living in the house who god knows how long, only to find that about three weeks later it had been totaled by whom knows what.

All Chris could do was to try and comfort Swift and Miles by rubbing their heads like his mother did earlier. "…I'm sorry, guys," Chris whispered, trying to make them feel better. "None of us were expecting this."

"Don't blame yourself," Swift stated with his eyes closed before sniffling. "We were gone too long, and somebody ransacked the place because of it."

"I told Swift we should've installed a house alarm!" Miles bawled, snapping Swift out of his own self-misery.

"We're living in an abandoned house in the middle of the former Mayan Empire, Miles," Swift argued with a swirl over his head. "Where would we have _found_ a house alarm, let alone, _how_ would we install it without looking suspicious!"

"We could've always sprung for a lock," Miles retorted.

"It's part of the park," Swift shot back. "We would've been found out!"

"Good to know you two are somewhat alright," Chris sarcastically jumped in. "Still though, your old house is a wreck." Both Chao stopped arguing with each other, and stared at their shot-up Mayan home. "…Not the best choice of words, right?"

"They were not," Frances sighed. Lindsey giggled while scooping up the two Chao. She then rocked them back and forth while humming the tune of a lullaby. Swift and Miles somehow forgot their sadness, and just closed their eyes. Soon, the Chao were simply breathing in a peaceful sleep.

"There we go," Lindsey smiled while handing Swift to Chris and Miles to Karin. "That should make them feel a little better. Are Amy and the echidna Chao still awake?"

"What makes you say that?" Helen asked. She then looked down to see Amy napping on the floor, slight snores escaping her lips.

"My mother taught me that so I can lull my Chao to sleep when she was cranky," Lindsey replied as she picked up Amy and placed her into Helen's lap. Looking at Spike, she giggled, "It works on three out of four Chao, I see."

"I never liked lullabies," Spike insisted. "But does anybody have a camera?"

"Spike," Ahaw Kin growled, making the echidna Chao silent. Out loud, Ahaw Kin sighed, "I am terribly sorry about this development, everybody. I'm new here, and this was not like this when I took the job. I will look into it, though, mark my words." Everyone else nodded with the vow, and started to head back… save for Chris and Danny.

"You guys were trying to tell Swift about this, weren't you?" Chris realized. Spike reluctantly nodded. Chris handed Swift to Danny, and said, "Tell everyone I just went to the bathroom… I need to check to see what's left of the place."

"Are you nuts?" Danny questioned. "No offense to Swift and Miles, but whatever shot up this place made it so that the house could collapse at any minute. Hell, since Robotnik did make a Morpher and Swift and Miles made two so far, what's to say that he wasn't the one to do this and left a trap for us?"

"Ahaw Kin and Spike are going to stay with me just in case something like that happens," Chris replied, much to the shock of the mentioned duo that Spike had an exclamation point over his head. "Should something happen to the house," Chris explained to Ahaw Kin, "I may need you to save me. I don't want to make my mom worry on her birthday."

"Wait, it's today?" Ahaw Kin asked. Danny just rolled his eyes as he headed back with Swift, still snoring away. "Anyways, Sonic, I will stay with you. Should I become Knuckles now just in case?"

"No," Chris waved off. "It's too soon."

Chris turned to the house, and went into the closest of the buildings. Chris then looked around to see a small, wooden work table that was sliced in half, a few singed and shot up notebooks, a cracked wooden pencil holder, a stale and moldy salami and Swiss cheese sandwich- the only thing in the building that was left untouched- and a broken glass oil lamp on the floor, which- from the look of it- was accidentally knocked against the wall that was slightly burnt. Luckily, the fire seemed to have been put out before it became noticeable. This building must have been Miles' workshop.

Chris then noticed a small little document that was slightly burned on the floor below what remained of the work table. Curious, the boy pulled it out and pocketed it, saving it for later. Seeing nothing else of importance, Chris decided to let moldy sandwiches lie and leave before the smell of the sandwich got to him.

The next building wasn't in as bad shape as the workshop was, but it was still pretty jacked up. Chris noticed another broken oil lamp on the ground, but it looked like it fell from a damaged hook that was placed in the wall. Also, Chris noticed what remained of two straw beds- beds that were way too small to be for humans. It was clearly obvious that the beds were for Chao… before the destruction of the house. So, this must have been Swift and Miles' living house.

But that wasn't what interested Chris. What interest the boy was that under what remained of one of the beds was a small trap door with a string attached to it. Chris curiously pulled the string… and found a small, black, circular device with a large gray button on the top. Shrugging, he pushed the button, triggering a holographic projection of none other than Ivo Robotnik.

"_For whoever was living here,"_ Robotnik began, _"I'd just like to thank you for taking care of those important documents until I got there. And I'd also like to thank you for improving on the Chaos Morpher design for me to make it easier. I have taken the liberty of confiscating them- they were, after all, Robotnik property before I got my hands on them."_

"Robotnik property?" Chris questioned. He then remembered that he was speaking to a hologram. Perhaps he could discuss it with his grandfather later

"_But I must apologize for the obvious mess,"_ Robotnik continued, snapping Chris back into reality. _"But my robots and I made ourselves at home when we were searching the house. After all, I'm going to need those blueprints you were watching more so than you. I'd pay for the damages, but this message is designed to activate a bomb that will destroy the house in about two minutes at the end of it, more than enough time for you to clear out. If you feel like getting revenge, I'll be waiting in the Mayan ruins of Yaxchilán. Good-bye."_

The holographic image faded away, and up rose a large, gray capsule like device. For those of you who need a hint as to what it looks like, remember those capsules you press at the end of a level back in the classic _Sonic the Hedgehog_ games? Yeah, it looks like one of those, but on the side was a really large, red timer counting down from two minutes, with the golden plunger switch at the top slowing lowering down. Chris breathed, "Aw, crap… Ahaw Kin, Spike!"

Just then, a red echidna smashed through the wooden wall. "I'm way ahead of you, Sonic!" Knuckles announced as he got up and dusted himself off. He then looked at the large machine, and questioned, "What in the world is this?"

"That thing will blow a crater in the park if we don't get it out of here!" Chris explained. "Where can we get it to blow up that won't harm anything in less than two minutes!"

"I may know a place," Knuckles replied while walking up towards the bomb. He then slid his spiked claws right under the explosive, and easily lifted the massive bomb over his head, much to Chris' shock. "Is this a good time to say that the males of the Knuckles Tribe of echidna were rumored to lift up to ten times their own body mass, which is the reason why they had taken over almost half of the world when they were around?"

"Actually, yes," Chris reasoned. "Need any help with that?"

"No, I'm fine," Knuckles replied as he turned towards the large hole he made earlier. As he walked out, a bigger gaping hole was made, knocking the holographic projection unit off of the plunger with the rubble. Chris quickly pocketed the projector, thinking he would need it later. "Go back to your family and pretend everything's fine. After this, my Chao side has a few things to do, anyways. I'll meet you back in Flores!" Chris nodded, and ran off, leaving Knuckles with a time bomb hovering over his head. Now, while it was no secret that the echidna is stronger than the hedgehog psychically, the hedgehog is faster than the echidna. Knuckles was pretty fast, but not on the level of Sonic.

Still, Knuckles could move, even with the large mass above his head. As the clock started to tick down, Knuckles carried it as far away from people and animals he could. When he saw that he only had ten seconds, the Echidna looked into the clear air. From there, he bent his knees, and launched the large explosive airborne, and ducked behind a conveniently placed Mayan ruin just as the clock struck zero.

_**POOF! POOF! POOF! POOF!**_

Knuckles looked up from behind his cover to see a bunch of baby forest animals landing on the ground, clearly confused as to how they got there, and the crumpled remains of something metal and scrunched up. Knuckles then realized that the whole thing was a set-up. The animals decided to try to find their way home before their parents got worried about them, but not without thanking the echidna for saving them.

'_**Hey,'**_ Spike asked, _**'what the hell just happened?'**_

'_I do not know nor want to,'_ Ahaw Kin replied as Knuckles confusedly walked back to the park. _'Let's just go get that tour guide you knocked out from the broom closet and give him his clothes back before he wakes up.'_

* * *

**Flores, Guatemala- 14:32**

"…_I'd pay for the damages,"_ Robotnik continued his speech for the rest of Team Sonic, _"but this message is designed to activate a bomb that will destroy the house in about two minutes at the end of it, more than enough time for you to clear out. If you feel like getting revenge, I'll be waiting in the Mayan ruins of Yaxchilán. Good-bye."_ Chris waited until the message went dead to look at the rest of the group.

After they got back to Flores- well, most of them, as Ahaw Kin and Spike had to clean up the mess the two of them made- the large group decided to see the sights for a few hours after Swift, Amy, and Miles woke up. Despite their home being a wreck, Swift and Miles were trying their best to be happy. However, due to the horrifying memory of what became of their house during their stay in Station Square, the Chao's façade was easily read.

Once Ahaw Kin and Spike quietly returned to the city, Chris called Team Sonic together privately to look at Robotnik's holographic message. "So," Swift scowled with an angered swirl over his head, "that bastard Eggman is responsible for what happened to my house."

"Robotnik," Chuck corrected the Chao. "His name is Robotnik."

"And he took all my research notes," Miles calmly added. "This is going to be a problem if we don't find and stop Robotnik soon and get the blueprints for the Chaos Morpher back soon."

"Why is that?" Ahaw Kin questioned, clearly confused by the Morpher's importance. "Why is it so bad that he has the Morpher's blueprints?"

"Ahaw Kin," Karin spoke up, "the Chaos Morphers you, Chris, and Danny wear are now the key to winning this war Robotnik has started. So far, only Miles, Robotnik, and I are capable of building a Chaos Morpher, but Robotnik is the only one of us who has the technology and materials capable of Chaos Morpher mass production. Added with the potential energy that your Master Emerald wields, he could create a series of limitless Chaos Morphers- he could easily take over the world with those."

"We have to get the Master Emerald back, then!" Spike concluded, an exclamation point over his head.

"You do that," Swift agreed with the echidna Chao. "But I call dibs on Eggman."

"Robotnik," Chris corrected. "Anyways, Swift, this seems like a trap- and a more obvious one than four days ago."

"This guy broke my house," Swift angrily replied, "and now I'm breaking his face! Besides, we're supposed to be getting the Master Emerald back for Ahaw Kin and Spike anyways."

"Swift," Chuck ordered, "you're going to need to calm down before we attempt anything on Robotnik-"

"You're in no condition to tell me what to do!" Swift yelled at Chuck, shocking everyone. "Had you _not_ taken my Emerald in the first place, I would've been able to at least defend the house instead of chase you down to get my Emerald back!"

"Swift, enough!" Tanaka interjected into the conversation, making the hedgehog Chao stop. "I know that your house is destroyed and you want revenge, but Master Charles is right. You need to calm down and shut-up. If you go in guns blazing like you currently are, you're just signing your own death warrant. We're going to do something about this, make no mistake- you just need to calm down and shut-up before you do something reckless."

The hedgehog Chao stared at Tanaka's firm face, and sighed, calming down. "…Fine," Swift reluctantly agreed. "I'm done for today." He then jumped off the bed he was sitting on, grabbed a key card for later, and headed for the door. When he realized the handle was too high for him to reach normally, he turned to Chris. "Could you open the door for me?" The human boy rolled his eyes, and opened the door for the hedgehog Chao to slip out. "Now could you angrily slam it?" Chris then slammed the door. "Thanks!" Swift called from outside.

"He'll be fine," Miles sighed. "He just needs to vent a little." Miles then realized something about their conversation. Turning to Karin, he asked with a question mark, "By the way, Dr. Naka, what do you mean, 'you're capable of building a Chaos Morpher?' I thought I only showed you how Chris' works to help me build Danny's!"

"Yeah," Danny added, "you two need to teach me how to build one of these things."

"Well," Karin explained while pulling out a briefcase, "let's just say I haven't been twiddling my thumbs for the past week while Chris was in the field." She opened it to reveal an indigo colored Chaos Morpher that looked fresh off the production lines. "I'm working on a substitute for Ahaw Kin's Robotnik brand Chaos Morpher, just in case there's a fail-safe in his that Robotnik placed in."

"What's a fail-safe?" Spike asked with his own question mark above his head.

"Well," Karin replied, "Robotnik could have placed in a self-destruct function in Ahaw Kin's Morpher just in case he needed to terminate you two quickly. Also, with Robotnik's devilish grin on his wrist may have people thinking that we're really with Robotnik, so we need to get rid of the Morpher anyways." Both Ahaw Kin and Spike looked at the human guardian's wrist in shock.

"…Good point," Ahaw Kin agreed, poking Robotnik's logo.

"I can whip up one in a few days," Karin suggested while looking at the Morpher she made. "But I don't think I have any notable field skills as Chris with his martial arts, Swift with his speed, Danny with his gadgets and piloting skills, Miles with his brains and flight, Ahaw Kin's self-defense skills, and Spike with his muscle."

"So why did you build a new Morpher if you're never going to use it?" Chuck questioned.

"Swift is obsessed with the idea of getting Frances on the team," the Chao doctor replied. "It may be a slight crush or something."

"Actually," Chris replied, "Frances' fighting skills are better mine, and he had seen her in action before. But Swift having an actual crush on her? That's kind of odd for a Chao."

"True," Karin smiled, "but it happens, sometimes, with Chao. You may be Swift's owner, but sometimes, Chao exhibit minor feelings for humans of the opposite sex. So, if we ever found Frances a Chao partner, he could finally have an excuse for her to join the team and get closer. However, it would never go any further, though. Both species mutually decide that it would never work out in that manner, so they draw the line at owner and close friend, never soul mates."

Danny interjected, "Well, somebody should keep an eye on Swift for the rest of the day, just to make sure he doesn't go guns blazing on his own." Everyone looked at Chris, Karin, and Miles, expecting one of them to volunteer. Eventually, Miles' dot turned into a swirl of annoyance.

"I'll talk to him," the fox Chao replied, flying towards the door. "I have that brotherly duty, and all of that jazz." Soon, the group had watched the other depressed Chao leave.

"Master Chris," Tanaka announced, "we better keep a close eye on Swift and Miles this weekend. We both remember what happened the last time Swift lost something." Chris, Danny, and Tanaka grimaced at the thought of Swift's irrational behavior against Robotnik over a chili dog.

"I'll do better than that," Chris replied. "You're right, we're going to do something about this. We have no real choice, anymore. By now, he knows we're in Guatemala, so he'll be prepared for a fight… and use dirty tactics. But we can't just sit down and ignore it- as long as Robotnik's here, he's a threat to everyone in the nation."

"We have to get the Master Emerald back, as well," Ahaw Kin agreed. "So… what's the plan, Sonic."

"Chris," the boy replied, slightly annoyed by Ahaw Kin's consistency with the name. "And right now… I've kind of got nothing."

"I do, though," Chuck interrupted. "We keep calm and collected about this. We don't mention a word about what went on in this room to anyone. Also, Ahaw Kin and Spike have to hide until we get away from everyone long enough to go after Robotnik and the Master Emerald."

"I've been meaning to ask," Spike questioned with a question mark over his head, "but why do we have to keep out of your friends' sight?"

"As far as our friends and my family know," Chris explained, "you guys are just tour guides in Tikal National Park. It would be a little odd if you two just randomly started hanging out with us, no offense."

"Well if you put it that way," Spike shrugged as his dot returned to normal, "I guess we'll stick to the shadows."

"Good," Chuck replied. "Now, I think it's best to adjourn here. We need to make sure Swift doesn't leave Flores." Almost everyone left the room normally while Ahaw Kin and Spike stayed. Spike picked up the holographic transmitter, and replayed the message.

'_Y__**axchilán,'**_ Spike thought to himself after the message finished. _**'So that's where Robotnik took the ancient treasure of my people… he is going to pay with his life for this.'**_

"Itzamna," Ahaw Kin scolded the echidna Chao, causing an exclamation mark to pop up above his head. "I know what you're thinking, and no. We're not going after Robotnik by ourselves. We are going to wait on everyone else before moving out."

"Fine," Spike sighed, an annoyed swirl appearing above his head. "We'll stay put for now." The two then headed out onto the deck before turning back into Knuckles and climbing down the building to return into hiding.

For the rest of the day, Chris and his friends just spent it celebrating Lindsey's 40th birthday. Chris' gift was revealed to be a locket with a picture of Lindsey, Nelson, Tanaka, Chuck, Ella, and Sam back when Chris' parents weren't away as much. While everyone was enjoying themselves, Chris and the rest of Team Sonic was looking at the false happy faces of Swift and Miles, making sure that they didn't try anything.

Looking at Swift playing hide and seek with Amy, Chris thought to himself, _'Whatever you do, Swift, please don't be anything reckless.'_

**

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**

Guatemalan Airspace- 22:01

Robotnik was watching the monitors of the news reports in the country from the comfort of his Egg Balloon. Apparently, Guatemalan police discovered a vandalized Mayan dwelling in Tikal National Park. The scientist grinned in realization. This did not go unnoticed by the small black Dark Chao in the room. "Master Robotnik," Bokkun began in concern, "why are you grinning?"

"I take it Sonic is here and he has found your little message," the scientist replied. "This is going according to plan."

"_What do you mean, 'according to plan?'"_ Decoe questioned. _"Team Sonic knows we're here, and we haven't secured the Maya Base yet!"_

"I know we haven't," Robotnik replied. "But now that Team Sonic has seen what we've done to their Chao sides' old home, they'll probably want revenge. That's why I purposely didn't wash my boots when we were digging around in Tikal National Park."

"_You _lead_ them here, doctor!"_ Bocoe gasped in horror. _"Are you out of your freaking mind!"_

"Perhaps I am," Robotnik replied. "But we have our little guardian's Master Emerald and we caused some serious property damage to the Chao's old home. They'll come running with their Chaos Emeralds. And with what I have in store, this should be quite interesting."

"_By the way, doctor,"_ Decoe asked, _"what made you think that the Chao side of Sonic actually lived there?"_

"Reports show that Guatemalan villages and towns within a twenty-mile radius of the house have had some odd robberies happen," the scientist explained, showing the reports on monitor. "These robberies have similar qualities to them: nobody was injured, no houses were raided, the only things that were stolen were the same materials used to make the very Chaos Morpher I designed for our guardian friends as well as food, the raids happened at night, and there were reported sightings of a small, blue devil… Chao sized. Oddly, the raids stopped approximately two weeks prior to Sonic's first sighting… sounds familiar?"

"_You mean that the blue hedgehog Chao that stopped your conquest of Station Square and Sonic the Hedgehog are related, somehow!"_ Decoe and Bocoe both realized at the same time.

"You're just _now_ catching onto this, boys?" Robotnik chuckled. "I thought I programmed you two smarter than that."

"_HEY!"_ Decoe protested. _"We're smart!"_

"In all seriousness," Robotnik smiled, "of course they're related. Super speed and strength, rapid healing ability even to the context of a Mobian, blue fur, hedgehog DNA… these two have to be related in the case that the _Chao_ is one half of Sonic! If I can find out the human half's identity, we can take this war straight to him and either recruit him to our cause or wipe him off the map!"

"_And you had our troops desecrate the Chao's home in order to draw the human half out?"_ Bocoe concluded.

"Actually," Robotnik sheepishly replied, "this was more for luring the two Chaos Emeralds he has here before I made arrangements to acquire the remaining four."

"_So,"_ Decoe questioned, _"now what?"_

"We rendezvous with the troops in Yaxchilán, establish a defense, and wait for Sonic to show up. I also need to begin working with the Master Emerald in the morning; figure out how it can null the Chaos Emeralds." Robotnik yawned, and said, "We better get the Egg Balloon down in Guatemala… making sure everything goes smoothly is really tiring." With that, the blimp lowered itself downwards into the small country, where Robotnik's plans would begin….

* * *

**Chris:** Oh crap! Helen, Frances, have you seen him!

**Frances:** Seen who?

**Chris:** Swift! He's gone missing!

**Helen:** He's not the only one, Chris. I can't find Amy, either!

**Miles:** Damn it! Swift must have slipped off when I was sleeping.

**Tanaka:** You all don't think Swift… ah crap.

**Chris:** He must have gone to Yaxchilán and Amy must have followed him! We've got to go after them before they get hurt.

**Lindsey:** Chris, I better help you out. Yaxchilán is where I'm shooting next, anyways.

**Chris:** Thanks, mom.

**Lindsey:** Next time on _Sonic Chao Chronicles:_ The Blue Revenge! Swift Goes Solo!

**Miles:** Gotta fly!

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Yep, I'm back before I leave for college! Now, I'm sorry for the long wait and you guys have… mediocre work to read. I've been working on something on my deviantART, as I've said at the start of this chapter, and I've been pumping a lot of my creativity into that. So, I'm sorry if this sucks compared to my earlier chapters… I've gone from Sonic to Pokémon back and forth.

Edge's Corner: Well, we better get someone to do these comments with me. Can't leave the fans hanging and all of that, can we, Spike?

Spike: How did we even-?

Edge: It's best not to ask. Instead, just answer the first comment.

**SuperSpeed by Spike:** I know, it hooked me right into that chapter, too. And I got little screen time in this episode for my tastes! As for Ahaw Kin's little habit, he's working on it. More importantly, Swift almost called his human partner Sonic? I'd better look at that?

**Zohaku by Edge:** Yeah, she is, isn't she. Is the author that obvious, though? Hm… he better get creative.

**Porky2 by Spike:** Well, he's out of there. You know, we're lucky that the guy had no recollection of what happened. Otherwise, we'd probably be going to jail or something. But is Swift's hammock that damn important.

**White Hunter by Spike:** Since this is the same man who tricked me and stole the Master Emerald, those two guys aren't the _only_ Chao he'll have to worry about…

**Roxai by Edge:** This one's going to have some explaining… you see, the author wanted Robotnik to be considered an actual threat both physically and mentally. The guy has a high-enough IQ to be dangerous mental wise, but all that knowledge would go to waste if a hedgehog could just destroy his plans and it takes a few physical blows to bring him down. That's when he found out that Robotnik in the _Sonic X_ comic did wrestling to earn money. So, why not incorporate being a professional wrestler in Robotnik's arsenal. I know it's hard to believe, but it gives the guy some way to fight without riding in a mech all of the time.

**Hanzo the Salamander by Edge:** …I have no comment…

**Samswimmer by Spike:** You know what will happen to this "Maria?" Because I'm kind of in the dark.

**Invader Kiwi by Edge:** …D-do I have to comment on this one? …Yes? Okay, fine. Thank you for all the awards, and thank you for giving us the chance to live long enough for us to update. When the world gets obliterated by aliens in 2012, please instead of killing our writer, just abduct him so he can continue with this story for your amusement, as well… also, we're the best Sonic fanfic out here? Cool!

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Well, that's everything. Here's to hoping I have time in college to work on this! Kingdom Rider92, out!


	18. Episode 7, Part 1

A/N: Before anyone asks, no, I'm not going to do a whole episode recap thing like they did in _Sonic X_ for story arcs. So, I'm just going to jump straight in, if nobody minds.

* * *

**Flores, Guatemala- 08:56 Local Time**

Frances let out a big yawn before taking a look at what she selected for breakfast- some eggs, a couple pieces of sausage, and some fresh fruit. "Damn jetlag messing up my sleep," she sighed while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "As nice as it is to see Chris' mom again… I hope we go home soon. It's not going to be easy getting back into regular sleep if we keep doing things like this."

"Indeed," Sam agreed as he joined her at the table, much to the girl's shock, with two cups of coffee in his hands. "As much as I love my baby sister and her family," the police officer announced while placing one cup on Frances' side of their table, "I hate how eccentric their little shenanigans are. I mean, I know that between Lindsey's acting career and Nelson's huge business, they're filthy, stinking rich, they rarely get to see each other, and Guatemala is pretty nice right now, but… flying all of the way towards from the golden coast of California to here just to say, 'Happy Birthday' is a little over the top."

"You do realize that you're not so innocent from that crazy stuff, yourself, right?" Frances pointed out, grabbing her cup of coffee. "For god's sake, Mr. Speed, you're a _NASCAR_ driver turned cop leading a special unit of Formula-1 car drivers _and_ the Fastest Thing Alive."

"You mean Speed King," Sam chuckled, holding up his cup and taking a sip. "And that reminds me… did you see the report about how one of Sonic's two associates, the one they're calling, 'Knuckles,' was spotted in Tikal around the time we left yesterday? He was responsible for dealing with a supposed bomb threat." Frances blinked at that announcement. She hadn't heard about it by ear.

"Well, most of the channels in mine and Helen's room are in Spanish, and I'm taking French," the redheaded girl answered, taking a sip from her coffee- a decaf, no foam latté. "But what does this have to do with you?"

"Simple," Sam answered. "As you said, I _am_ a _NASCAR _racer turned cop, and the Fastest Thing Alive. Until about a month ago, the only person who ever got close was Hector. However, ever since Sonic showed up and beat me that day, I've felt a challenge. As much as I want a rematch with me, my duties as a cop come first- and Sonic _is_ a vigilante. And if one of his friends is here in Guatemala, chances are, so is he… but my jurisdiction ends at the US border. So, if he does show up, I can't do a damn thing about it."

"Don't tell me you're obsessed with figuring out who Sonic is and where he came from, Mr. Speed." Frances rolled her eyes.

"It's not that," Sam announced. "Sure, it's Sonic-related, but not that. I'm trying to figure out why he's in Guatemala of all places. It just doesn't make sense why he'd come here."

"Well, I'm a little young to be a police officer," Frances giggled. "But if you ask me… Team Sonic is just utilizing their roles as freelance heroes and just cleaning up the world their own way. Either that, or they're here for another reason that's beyond you and me."

"If I may interject," Lindsey stated as she suddenly walked in on the conversation, "I actually find this whole 'Sonic' thing rather exciting. The Mobians suddenly showing up after millennia of disappearance in Station Square? I have to say, Sam, you're kind of lucky to know one."

"Three, actually," Sam replied to his sister. "But going back to Sonic being _here, _I want to know why?"

"Well, remember yesterday where I said that the Mayan culture was crafted from the echidnas of the Mobians? Perhaps those Mobians wanted to come back to their roots… particularly the echidna that we heard about yesterday."

"Why the heck would they want to know about that?" Frances questioned.

"Perhaps the echidna wants to return this world to the old ways that they knew prior to this." Frances and Sam looked at each other in thought. The echidna tribe was a powerful war clan before they were suddenly wiped off of the planet. If they came back… all hell would break loose. They were hoping that Lindsey could be wrong… otherwise, the apocalypse would be the least of their concerns.

All of the sudden, Chris ran over towards their table, a panicked look on his face. "Have either of you guys seen Swift!" Lindsey, Frances and Sam looked at each other in confusion, and then at Chris shaking their heads. "Ah crap."

"What's the matter?" Sam asked. "Did Swift pull some kind of prank and you're now after him?"

"As childish as he is at points," Chris answered, "no. It's a lot worse than that… Swift's missing!"

"Swift's gone, too!" Helen asked as she came into the conversation as well. "Amy's not here, either."

"Both of your hedgehog Chao are gone!" Lindsey questioned the two.

* * *

**Episode 7: The Blue Revenge! Swift Goes Solo!**

* * *

**Swift and Miles' Former House- 09:23 Local Time**

Swift looked at the new damages to his old home. Picking up a broken wooden plank, the hedgehog Chao had a swirl over his head. "Damn you, Eggman," the hedgehog Chao muttered. "I swear to Chaos, that you _just_ made this little war personal. I'm going to find you, and kick your egg-shaped butt from Mexico to Argentina and all of the countries in between."

"That's a lot of anger you have, Swift," a familiar voice stated. Swift, with an exclamation point over his head, gasped as he turned to see Amy behind him.

"Amy!" Swift questioned. "W-W-What the-! How did you even follow me!"

"It wasn't too hard to figure out you wanted to see your house again," the pink hedgehog Chao replied. "You lived in this place for Chaos knows how long. It's only natural you would want to come see it again… maybe give your final respects?"

Calming down, Swift asked, "Okay, you have me there… but why did you follow me?"

"I wanted to make sure you were alright," Amy answered, looking at the house. She was about to say something to him about it, but noticed out of the corner of her eye the pained look on the male hedgehog Chao's face. _**'No,'**_ Amy decided, looking away from the damage. _**'He wouldn't want to talk about his life here… it's too soon.'**_ However, she needed to find a way to cheer him up from this. "…It may be a touchy subject, but tell me about your past, Swift. Specifically where you came from."

Swift shrugged. "I never really liked looking back at the past," the blue hedgehog Chao told her. "In fact, the only time I ever do… is with my mom's Emerald." Pulling out the dark blue Chaos Emerald, the Chao smiled, "She said she found it the day I hatched, and it may have increased my abilities of survival… I can heal faster than most hedgehog Chao, move quicker than most, and I'm pretty strong. But the emerald has done more than that… it keeps the memories of my mom alive."

"Alive?" Amy questioned, a question mark over her head. When she realized what he meant, she gasped, turning the question mark into an exclamation point. "You mean…"

"My mom died when I was about one," Swift explained. "I do not know how she died, but the Emerald is all I have left of her. So, I've kept it ever since." Amy then looked at Swift's wrist, noting the cobalt bracelet.

"Well, what about that thing?" she asked. Swift looked at the bracelet, a swirl over his head.

"My mom said it was a gift from my dad," the blue hedgehog Chao explained. "But I never met my old man. All I know is that it reacts well to my enhanced Chaos energy and other Chaos energy related objects, and I've used it to my advantage."

"Yeah," Amy agreed, remembering how he used the bracelet with the Power Ring to defeat Robotnik's invading forces in Station Square. Amy then realized something… Sonic wore an exact replica on his wrist. Either the two have similar tastes in fashion or… no, it couldn't be.

"So what about you?" Swift asked, making Amy jump with an exclamation point over her head. "I know you've been living with Helen but… how long?"

"I'm only a few years old," the pink hedgehog Chao replied as her exclamation point returned to being a dot. "I've stayed with Helen ever since I hatched… with the exception of school, I'm hardly ever away from her. Well, besides right now, of course."

"Yeah," Swift nodded, realizing that the two of them were alone. Looking back towards his demolished home, the hedgehog Chao sighed. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Amy… it almost worked."

"H-how did you know!" Amy gasped, an exclamation point back over her head. All of a sudden, Swift placed a hand on her shoulder, and then smiled at her, making both of them blush.

"It's kind of obvious," Swift smiled. "Have to admit it that this was an obvious place I'd go if I felt I need to let off some steam…" Amy then felt a pinching sensation on a pressure point. The last thing she saw before passing out was Swift's smile. After she fell to the ground, Swift told her, "I'm glad we had this talk, Amy. Although it helped me get a lot of crap off of my chest, it will not keep me alive where I'm going."

Picking up the pink hedgehog Chao, he gently carried her over bridal style to one of the hay beds he and Miles used to sleep in. As he placed the unconscious girl down, memories of this old house came back to him…

_**Flashback- 4 Months Ago**_

"_It's not much," Swift pointed out as he placed the last pile of hay on the ground, "but it's better than sleeping in the jungle, isn't it?"_

"_After the crazy rain frog incident," Miles agreed while looking around, "just about _anything_ is better than sleeping in the jungle. Seriously, how is it possible for those frogs to be able to summon rain by croaking?" A swirl appeared over his head at the memory of those large frogs, upon being startled, croaked and made a small rain storm. Swift and Miles were nearly caught in a monsoon thanks to ending up in their breeding grounds._

"_I don't know," Swift replied, "and I don't care just as long as our new crib doesn't have anything to do with poison ivy. Seriously, that stuff left rashes last time." Fluffing out the hay, he asked, "Do you want left side of the room or right?"_

"_I'll take left," Miles unconsciously answered. Turning towards Swift, the fox Chao asked with a question mark above his head. "So… do you really think you can operate this 'hero' business from out of this little Mayan hut?"_

"_Better than having nothing over our heads but a bunch of leaves," the hedgehog Chao responded. "And I'm not sure… when it takes off, we may need to expand. However, until that happens… this will be good as a start."_

"_Never thought someone as impatient and jumpy as you would want to stay in one place," Miles giggled, while Swift looked at him with a swirl over his head. As Miles left to explore their new living arrangement "This place could use quite a bit of work, though…"_

"_Okay, wise guy," Swift questioned, "what could we do to make this place more homely?"_

"_Well, let's get some light sources, for starters," Miles answered. "I don't like it being completely dark… and maybe a work bench for my- oh Chaos!" Swift's swirl straightened into an exclamation point before he quickly dashed over to where Miles was. The fox Chao was starring at a bunch of papers, an exclamation point over his own head._

_Swift calmed down upon the realization that it was not any form of an immediate threat. "Thank Chaos," the hedgehog Chao smiled. "For a minute there, I thought someone barged in."_

"_I think we're the intruders, here, Swift," the fox Chao nervously stated, looking at the papers. Showing the papers to his friend, Miles explained, "This level of documentation cannot be that of an ordinary Chao's… I think we're breaking Chao Code!"_

"_Which part of Chao Code am I going to be pissed off at now?" Swift questioned with a swirl over his head. The Chao had always hated the "official code" for Chao living on Earth._

"_One of the most sacred of rules, Swift!" Miles yelled at the hedgehog Chao. "Wild Chao are not allowed in occupied human dwellings without an invitation at the costs of their strongest abilities! We're hosed!"_

"_Oh Chaos!"Swift gasped. "What are we going to do!" The Chao quickly headed towards their living quarters, and began to tear up his own bed at his usual near mach speed. "We have to get out of here!" Miles blinked at the rapid removal of hay and straw with a question mark over his head. Curious, he spun his tails around… and soon lifted off of the ground and into the air._

"_Swift… I think we're okay," the fox Chao realized. Swift stopped what he was doing, and looked at Miles flying through the skies. "This house doesn't belong to any humans… we're fine. This old Mayan house is ours!"_

"_Oh thank Chaos for the false alarm," Swift sighed, a heart over his head. Realizing he had thrown all of his bedding outside, the hedgehog Chao stated, "I'll go get my bed back together…" He then rushed outside, and began to remake his bed once again._

_**End Flashback**_

Swift looked at Amy one last time, and smiled before placing Sonic's calling card right next to her. He then turned away from his old home, and then dashed off… eager to get his revenge on Robotnik.

* * *

**Yaxchilán- 09:30 Local Time**

Underneath the ancient Mayan ruins, Ivo Robotnik was having a one-sided staring contest with the equally ancient Master Emerald. The large Emerald had confounded him. Whenever he approached it with the light blue Chaos Emerald in his possession, the smaller emerald would suddenly lose its gleam and dull. However, once said Chaos Emerald was far enough from the emerald, it regained the light blue tint like nothing happened. The legends about the Chaos Emeralds being subservient to the Master Emerald, the Eighth Ancient Wonder of the World, were true.

Separately, the Chaos Emeralds bent towards the sheer will of the Master Emerald. Perhaps together, they could overcome their controller… sadly, Robotnik did not have the other six emeralds. Swearing under his breath, the scientist pocketed the one Chaos Emerald he had for what he felt was the tenth time this morning. Hopefully, his research would soon pay off…

"Is there something wrong, Doctor?" a young voice spoke up. Robotnik turned to see the Dark Chao that Decoe and Bocoe were with upon their kidnapping of Helen. The Chao looked at the large Master Emerald, and, with a question mark over the spike ball over his head, asked, "Did you figure out the secret of my people's most powerful relic, yet?"

"Bokkun," the scientist remarked, "had I figured out how the Master Emerald can nullify all of the Chaos Emeralds, I would have announced it. Besides, you're the Chao, here, and you're the one who pointed out the Chaos Emeralds to me in my grandfather's research in the first place. Shouldn't you know the incantation to activate the Master Emerald's full potential?" The confused look on Bokkun's face hinted that he didn't know. Rolling his eyes behind his glasses, Robotnik explained, "I thought you would know that the Master Emerald, while capable of neutralizing the Emeralds separately, can possibly be outmatched by them if they were all together."

"I figured that out," the Dark Chao nodded, the spike ball over his head returning to normal. "It's not like anything can stop seven sources of potential chaos happening at the same time… the Master Emerald has to draw the line with its order somewhere."

"True," Robotnik agreed. "It almost makes stealing the blasted thing from those two guardians worthless. Almost…" Bokkun's confused look returned.

"You mean besides the whole attempt to get them to fight Sonic?" the dark Chao replied. "Because _I_ did my part with that by helping Bocoe and Decoe kidnap his little girlfriend… and neither your robot nor those guardians took him out because you wanted to show off your wrestling abilities."

"Do not remind me of that," the scientist groaned. "At least I know I can take the fox boy on one-on-one. Anyways, like I said, there is more to why I stole the Master Emerald than its ability to nullify the Chaos Emeralds and get Sonic and the guardians to go at it… but if the Master Emerald could be overpowered, it's almost worthless. But I'm not about to give up on it, so… I started to do a bit of research."

"Which leads to you believe that there is some kind of magic word or something to increase the Master Emerald's powers?" Bokkun concluded.

"Not to put it bluntly," Robotnik sighed, "but yes. There actually _is_ some sort of magic word that makes the Master Emerald's powers rapidly increase." Turning to Bokkun with a confident look on his face, the scientist added, "In fact, according to research, this magic word was an incantation used by the so-called princess of the Echidna tribe as well as the first leader of your clan on Earth to actually quell your god." As expected, Bokkun gasped in disbelief, an exclamation point over his head.

"You can't be serious!" Bokkun questioned. "Nothing could stop Chaos' wrath! H-h-he just left after wiping the Mobians out… right?"

"I'm not entirely sure," the scientist honestly chuckled, "but if the Master Emerald and Chaos' sudden departure after destroying the Mobians were wiped out are related… then I have to find out the incantation that could even stop a god. But… no living human on Earth knows the exact incantation… unless…"

"Unless what?" the Dark Chao asked. He then gained an exclamation point over his head in realization. "Those guardians are still good for something!"

"Perhaps," Robotnik replied. "But I cannot afford to lose the Master Emerald at this stage… and I'm not going back to Angel Island just yet, with the chance of them waiting for us." Rubbing his chin, Robotnik announced, "If I can't find anything that will stimulate the Master Emerald's powers, then I'll take the risk." Standing up, the scientist walked over to his computer. Typing in a few commands, he suddenly gained access to a news report. It was showing how _Ruin Raider 3_ was going to be shot in Yaxchilán… specifically right above his secret base. Bokkun had a nervous swirl over his head as he looked at the report.

"That does not look good for us," Bokkun pointed out. "If they figure out where our base is before Sonic shows up, we're going to be in trouble."

"That is precisely why we're going to have to show these actors the door," Robotnik replied, turning away from the report, and to another screen that displayed several selections of robots. Upon seeing one that he liked, he walked over to a microphone and announced, "Attention all units… it has come to my attention that we are going to expect a few unwelcome visitors… but do not worry. The Egg Gigas will be launched to deal with the situation."

* * *

**Tikal- 10:49**

"Amy…" Helen's voice called to the pink hedgehog Chao. "Wake up…" Amy opened her eyes to see all of her human friends and Miles staring at her.

"What happened?" Amy asked, a question mark over her head.

"What happened to you may be the same thing that happened to me," Miles answered. "Swift's been paying attention to pressure points, I'll give him that." Looking at Karin with a swirl over his head, he asked, "Why the heck did you teach him those?"

"I never thought Swift would pay attention to my lessons about Chao pressure points," the Chao doctor replied. "With his impatient nature, Swift seems like the last Chao to be interested in that sort of thing."

"Swift paying a lot of attention to things lately and using pressure points to pacify me and Amy aside," Miles continued, "I'm not too happy with Swift right now!"

"Aren't we all?" Chris interjected, calmly looking around. Going to the other side of the house, Chris noticed Ahaw Kin and Spike casually leaning on the wall. "There you guys are."

"Indeed," Ahaw Kin nodded.

"It looks like someone has had trouble keeping track of their Chao," Spike chuckled at Chris, a heart over his head.

"Itzamna!" That heart turned into an embarrassed swirl. "We at least know where to look, though… Yaxchilán."

"Robotnik's base," Chris remembered. He then remembered something else about that place as well.

_**Flashback- 09:25**_

_Chris hugged his parents before saying, "Sorry about this, mom and dad, but if Swift is in trouble, then I have to find him!"_

"_I understand completely," Lindsey replied. "You're right about one thing, though… he can't sit still for longer than five minutes."_

"_Do you have any idea as to where Swift's run off to, though?" Nelson questioned his son. Chris thought about it for a minute._

"_Chances are he at least left a clue at his old house," the boy replied to his father. "I'll start there. Maybe Amy has already figured he'd go home and headed there, too."_

"_In that case," Helen suggested as she came over, "I'm heading there, too. Amy's my Chao, so I should find out if she is alright."_

"_I do not blame you," Tanaka announced as he came into the conversations. "Master Nelson, I do not suppose I need any instructions to accompany Master Chris and his friends."_

"_That's what I like about you, Eddie," Nelson chuckled. "But we're old friends… no need to add master to my title." Chris was about to head out to Tikal, but his mother placed a hand on his shoulder._

"_When you find Swift, Chris dear," Lindsey smiled at her son, "I just want to let you know that if you want to come on set for the day with me, come to Yaxchilán. We'll be there all day."_

"_Thanks mom," Chris replied, keeping the words to heart._

_**End Flashback**_

Chris realized it right then and there: his parents, along with several other innocent people in the movie industry, were about to walk right in the crossfire between a not-so-typical mad scientist with a robot army and extreme wrestling skills at his disposal and one angry, revenge-seeking, super-powered hedgehog Chao.

"My family is in danger," Chris muttered to himself. Ahaw Kin looked at Chris, confused.

"Sonic," Ahaw Kin questioned, "are your parents going to that man's base…?"

"They don't know it's his base, though," Chris replied in a slightly panicked state, looking at Frances and Helen, who did not appear to have heard what the boy said. "Team Sonic needs to get to Yaxchilán now before we have several casualties on our hands."

"How?" Ahaw Kin asked. "I have an idea as to where it is, but how are we going to get there?"

"I'll be right back," Chris replied. He walked over to Danny and Miles, who were inside the house looking for clues. Before the two could protest, Chris dragged the two geniuses over towards the pair of guardians.

"Okay, I'll bite," Danny stated. "What the hell is going on, you guys?"

"Danny," Chris explained, "I will get the _Tornado_ a better engine for your birthday if you can get Ahaw Kin all the way to Yaxchilán before my family becomes Swiss cheese in the crossfire between Robotnik and Swift."

"You already figured out Swift was heading to Yaxchilán?" Miles questioned, a question mark forming over his head. "Where does your family fit in, though?"

"The next part of the movie they're shooting is right on top of Robotnik's supposed base right there," Chris replied. "My dad, uncle, and grandfather are heading to support my mom… and I'm not about to let them get killed by the battle."

"I understand," Miles nodded, the question mark fading. "But you have one little problem…"

"I'll handle Helen and Frances," Chris insisted. "You guys get to Yaxchilán and save my parents, and I'll soon join you guys." As Chris ran to do that, Ahaw Kin, Spike, Danny, and Miles looked at each other, confused.

"He's expecting us to work together, isn't he?" Miles sighed with a swirl over his head. "Well, it's for Swift…"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Spike stated.

"Once Swift gets mad at someone," the fox Chao replied, "he holds a grudge like nobody's business. There was this one time I made plans on the back of one of his childhood doodles… I had to apologize up and down for like a month before he'd let me back into the temporary home we were staying in!"

"Whatever," Danny rolled his eyes. Let's just stop the little scamp before he starts doing something he'll regret!" Activating his Chaos Morpher, Danny whispered, **"Chaos Soul, Take Flight!"**

"**Chaos Soul, Roar!"**

**

* * *

**

Chao Card:

Bokkun

**Type:** Dark, Demon, Flight/Power

**Known Powers:** Incredible flying skills, above average strength

**Equipment:** Various explosives

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Yeah, I am back! Alright, just a quick thing. I know that the contest's extended entry submission date is passed, but after considering it, I didn't get as many entries as I hoped I would. In fact, I believe only six. So, I'm going to say this… the contest is now going into Round 2- I kind of want a few more characters for season 2. The rules are still the same as in my profile, but the deadline is now… January 2. Give you some extra time.

Those who submitted entries, thank you, and don't worry. You guys don't have to redo it. Hell, I'll even accept multiple entries from the same person just to get a varying cast.

Oh, and a shot-out to a dedicated fan, Jyn-the-racoon, who made her own _Sonic Chao Chronicles_ story. Considering what I plan to do with _Chao Chronicles,_ the story is AU to mine. Just wanted to give her some praise before Edge's comment show started… with Swift!

**Edge's Corner:** Why did you have to spoil it, Kingdom Rider! Ugh… Swift, you're on!

**Swift:** Alright, who's up first?

**Sozic by Swift:** Yeah, not just yet… I'll teach Eggman a thing or two about burning homes while one's away soon enough, though!

**Hanzo of the Salamander by Edge:** Oh… I see what you did there… man, I gotta get some better glasses. _Star Wars_ references… you know, I probably should have said, "He told me enough! He told me you killed my father!"

**White Hunter by Swift:** You want danger! You're going to _get_ danger! Nobody nukes my home and gets away with it!

**Zohaku by Edge:** *looks at enraged Swift* …He's best off not knowing….

**SuperSpeed by Edge:** Okay, you're contradicting yourself. You want Swift to do something stupid, but you want him to play it safe? The heck? Anyways, it's kind of embarrassing that we Chao need humans to help us slam doors. And as for the exploding message this time around… it's a reference to at the end of every Zone in the early games, there is a capsule filled with animals.

Okay, for your first question, the author pronounces it like "Ah-haul" and then the word "kin." That's kind of his way of pronouncing the guy's name. As for the Chaos Morpher itself, the Neo Mobian is very well aware of the two halves that make up its body. While the human part controls the Neo Mobian's actions, the Chao half controls their powers, kind of feeding them to the human side of the Neo Mobian's mind as to how a certain power works. For talking, it's a mixture of both. Consciousness, though… we haven't gotten that far yet, but we assume that if one side is desynchronized in any method while the other remains, the Morph automatically clocks out.

**Jyn-the-racoon by Swift:** Yeah, I'm actually in other media! Oh, and quick thing about this… Kingdom Rider92 may own the concept of _Sonic Chao Chronicles,_ but as long as you give him credit for the idea, you are free to write your own _Sonic Chao Chronicles_ story starring us… just don't kill me and Chris off, and I'm fine with it.

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay. Now, I know it's October again… and I hate myself for saying that the Halloween fic is indeterminately cancelled. Would have been something good. Maybe I'll just make it a story arc and later adapt a retelling into a small fan fiction movie.

Now, just a reminder before I sign out: contest is still going on until now January 2, 2011 (when I can start my FASFA.) The rules are still in my bio section, and you're allowed more than one character. Also, you are free to create _Sonic Chao Chronicles_ stories starring the characters seen here and your own characters, as long as you give me partial credit. If you need details, PM me. I'm always willing to answer questions. Kingdom Rider92, out!


	19. Episode 7, Part 2

A/N: And we've returned to some more _Sonic Chao Chronicles!_

**Human Card:** Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke

**Occupation:** Actress, Historian (former), Mother

**Known Relatives:** Nelson Thorndyke (husband), Christopher Thorndyke (son), Samuel Speed (brother)

**Hobbies:** History, Drama, Chao Care

**Tikal, Guatemala- 11:00**

Amy rubbed the back of her neck in slight pain. "I can't believe Swift has been paying attention to my lectures," Karin muttered to herself. "If only he had patience to take a bath, then we'd actually have a breakthrough." All of a sudden, two bright lights erupted from behind the house, blinding her, Frances, Helen, Amy, and Tanaka.

"What the heck is that!" Frances spoke up, shielding her eyes. Once they adjusted to the light, they saw Chris walking from behind the house, furiously rubbing his eyes.

"Master Chris, are you all right?" Tanaka questioned the young heir.

"I'll be fine," Chris insisted his bodyguard. "Just remind me never use a flash bang. Whatever the heck that light was really hurt my eyes."

"Well," Karin announced, "wherever Swift is, we're not going to find him here, anymore. We should probably head back to Flores and either wait for your folks to show back up or head to wherever the shooting is. Swift will at least remember where we are, and head home."

"Hey," Frances questioned, realizing that one of their friends was missing. "Where did Danny go?"

"Yeah," Chris explained. "Danny told me he'll keep looking for Swift, though… he may find something. He said he knows how to get back to Flores, and he'll call me if he sees Swift." While everyone turned away, Tails and Knuckles dashed out from behind the house, and Tails grabbed the echidna's hand.

"Hope you're not afraid of heights," Tails remarked to Knuckles as he took flight. "It's going to be a long ride."

"You _do_ realize that Angel Island is called that for a reason, right?" Knuckles shot back at the kitsune Neo Mobian. "Neither side of me should have any reason to fear heights." Chris briefly looked back and gave the duo a thumbs-up before departing while Karin looked back and threw the two her Chaos Emerald, which Knuckles caught. While Karin knew the two would need her Emerald, Chris knew he would have to catch up with the two before Swift got to Yaxchilán. Otherwise, there would be hell to pay for his family.

**Yaxchilán- 12:04**

"Alright," Mr. Springsteen called out to Lindsey, "this is it… the big scene where Blair hands over the Amulet of Tikal in exchange for her husband, however the CGI guardians we have will send things quickly to hell in a hand basket. Nelson, I'm glad you could come on set for this one."

"No problem," Nelson replied to the director as Sam clapped handcuffs on him from behind. "But question… how are you going to explain how Blair's husband Victor was kidnapped by Sanchez in such a short time?"

"This scene takes place about three days after the chase scene in Flores," Springsteen answered. "And you know how the movie industry goes- anything can happen in that short of time."

"And the handcuffs?"

"We want this to be authentic," Springsteen answered. Nelson gulped at Springsteen's idea of "authentic"- the director knew Lindsey was fully capable of doing her own stunts… it was something he exploited in the movies. And every time Nelson happened to be on set, the stunts they did tended to be more realistic than the CEO of Meteor Tech Industries ever wanted movies to be.

"Please tell me you brought the key to these cuffs," Nelson whispered to his brother-in-law.

"I should have it somewhere," Sam humorously stated as he patted himself down, making Nelson look at him in fear. Pulling the key out of his pants pocket, though, Sam smiled, "Don't worry, I got it."

"Now Nellie," Lindsey smiled, "I know you're not the best actor in the world. But Springsteen remembers my contract about family- I have the right to sue him should any set-related injury happen to you, Chris, Ella, Tanaka, Chuck, or Sam."

"And I humbly respect that contract you had him sign after what happened in the first movie," Nelson grimaced.

"I swear," Springsteen sighed, "that won't happen again. We'll make this quick, I promise. For this part, Nelson, I want you to improvise fear, since we don't have a script exactly planned out for you. Just follow Lindsey and Ramon's lead, and you'll do nicely." Ramon walked up from behind Nelson, and took him behind a few pillars while Sam casually walked off the set while Lindsey prepared for the scene.

"Break a leg, guys," Chuck told his son and daughter-in-law. "I'll be rooting

"Alright guys," Springsteen stated. "Let's do this. Take 1, and… ACTION!"

Blair casually walked up the stairs to the large temple in Yaxchilán. "You know," Blair smiled to herself, "if it wasn't for the fact that I'm being pursued by an international criminal who's kidnapped my husband and those echidnas are everywhere, I'd enjoy taking the time to look around."

"Unfortunately," Sanchez stated as he came out with Blair's husband Victor, "time isn't on your side, Mrs. Rhodes."

"Sanchez," Blair stated with a scowl. "I understand you trying to kill me after I've beaten you this far, but this is pretty damn low even for you."

"I would've also taken your son," Sanchez gloated, "but he wasn't exactly there at the time. Now, Mrs. Rhodes, let's make that trade we discussed. The Amulet." Pulling out a gun and forcing Victor to his knees, Sanchez asked, "Or should I just shoot your dear husband?"

"Blair, honey," Victor pleaded. "You know how much I like my head… please just give the um, nice gentleman, what he wants."

"I honestly don't know why I married you, sometimes," Blair humorously giggled before pulling out the Amulet of Tikal. "Sanchez," Blair warned him again, "I'm only going to say this one more time: you have not a goddamn clue as to what forces you're getting yourself into. and the fact that the echidna clan seems to be after this thing is not exactly helping. I don't think you're going to be safe with it."

"I didn't come here for a warning from you, Rhodes," Sanchez stated. "I came here for the weapon. Now, shut-up and hand the pretty necklace before I- how do you Americans say it? Ah yes… bust a cap in yo' husband's ass." Blair rolled her eyes before tossing the Amulet to Sanchez, who caught it with ease.

"I'll be taking Victor now," Blair scowled. Sanchez pulled Victor up, and pushed him over to Blair, who hugged him with a smile-

Only to dodge a laser blast that was shot at her foot. The group looked to see Egg Pawns surrounding them. Victor- or rather, Nelson- asked, "So, are these the guardians Springsteen was talking about?"

"Not at all," Lindsey replied.

"CUT!" Springsteen ordered the cameraman. "What the hell is going on, here!"

"These guys again," Sam groaned while looking at the Egg Pawns. "So Sonic _did _have a reason to come here… that Eggman guy's here."

Lindsey turned to her older brother, a mischievous look on her face. "Sam?"

"I know what you're going to ask for," Sam stated, pulling out a gun and throwing it to his sister before pulling out a second for himself. Lindsey got behind Nelson, and shock the chain between the handcuffs, freeing her husband's hand movements. The two Speed siblings took aim at the robots, and prepared to fire-

When a blue whirlwind crashed into the robots, sending several of them flying and landing in an explosive heap. One of the Egg Pawns turned to find the source of the tornado, only to have his head taken off by a small blue ball of doom. The blue ball landed in the middle of the crowd, revealing a somewhat exhausted Swift. "I never want to run halfway across Guatemala ever again," Swift growled with a swirl over his head.

"Swift!" Nelson gasped. Swift walked past the group, pulling his sunglasses down over his eyes in complete anger. "Where have you been! Chris has been worried sick about you-"

"Not while I'm pissed, Mr. Thorndyke," Swift stated. Turning to them, the hedgehog Chao explained, "I suggest you guys get out of here, now, while the getting's good, and the back way is clear." Before anyone could say anything else to the Chao, he sped off into the temple, destroying several of the Egg Pawns in his wake.

"I don't know what that Chao is up to," Springsteen announced, "but he does make a good point about getting out of here."

"I'm going to ask him some questions after this," Lindsey stated as she turned back towards the robots, and began shooting them, taking a few down.

**Inside the Temple- 12:21**

Swift tore through the Egg Pawns before they even had a chance to strike. Finally slowing down, Swift looked at his surroundings. The ruins were an amazing site. If the Mayan ruins were once part of the echidna culture, then the echidna really had an interesting taste in architecture. However, Swift did not exactly have time for this… not while Robotnik was here and still had the Master Emerald. Looking at his dark blue Emerald, he noticed how dull it was starting to become. He had heard the stories from his mother- the Emeralds separated were no match to the Master Emerald. And as far as he knew, Swift only had his one while Karin had a second and the other five were Chaos knows where.

So, as rash as he was right now, Swift knew he'd have to do something about the Master Emerald before he could get his shot at Robotnik. Something that wouldn't get him killed by Spike, though… any damage done to the Master Emerald wouldn't be pretty for his head. Getting Robotnik away from the Master Emerald so they could fight on even grounds, though… that he could manage.

"Alright, Eggman," Swift yelled through the temple, "you and I have been at this little game of yours for far too long. Let's just cut to the chase, already- where are you!"

"_I'm surprised at you, Chao,"_ Robotnik's voice called out to the hedgehog Chao over a speaker, who now had a swirl over his head. _"You came here by yourself?"_

"What the hell of it?" Swift replied. "You broke my house while I was away. Now, where are you so I can even the score with your face!"

"_No need to get hasty,"_ Robotnik taunted Swift. _"Though, if you could just hand over your little Chaos Emerald and swear your loyalty for the Robotnik Empire, I will gladly let you and those actors leave Yaxchilán alive."_

"They should already be on their way out," the hedgehog Chao growled. "And I believe I told you before that this is the last keepsake of my mom's I have. No way am I giving it to a kidnapping, overweight, oddly facial-haired madman like you!"

"_I keep telling people that it's genetic,"_ Robotnik insisted about his weight. _"Have it your way, hedgehog Chao… don't say I didn't warn you."_ All of a sudden a trap door opened up right below Swift, revealing a long metal slide. Swift stayed in the air for a few seconds, a swirl over his head.

"I _really_ hate you," Swift groaned before falling down the slide, Chaos Emerald and all. While he was sliding down into Robotnik's lair, he didn't know how hectic things outside were becoming.

**Yaxchilán- 12:27**

Danny finished recharging his Chaos Morpher's battery from behind the large rock that he, Miles, Ahaw Kin, and Spike were hiding behind. Spike took a peek from behind the rock to see that the ancient ruins were now a war zone. Although Sam and Lindsey were decent shots (one being a detective and the other having been trained to use firearms for her movies), they didn't have enough ammunition between the two of them to fight their way out.

"I don't see that hedgehog Chao friend of yours, anywhere," Spike announced as he climbed back down from their spot of cover. "And worse, those minions of that Egg guy are crawling all over the place. I guess the Chao realized he was outnumbered and ran away."

"Not so sure about that," Miles argued as he flew up. Looking towards the completely destroyed robots, the kitsune Chao explained, "That's clearly Swift's handiwork. I think between the four of us, we can take these guys."

"You said a similar thing about the spider robot… or was it Robotnik before he beat the ever-loving snot out of us?" Danny argued.

"This time, I'm sure," Miles replied. Looking around, he spotted the Golden Egg Pawn commanding the troops. "Swift and I fought these guys before, and we learned that killing Goldie there will get rid of the rest of his troops. Convenient for us, because that's the only one we have to worry about."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Ahaw Kin stated, pointing at something. The other three watched in awe as a large, stone echidna that looked like Knuckles jumped down from the top of the temple into the battlefield, cutting off the escape routes of the humans.

"…I believe there's a phrase that's called 'dibs'," Spike stated to Miles while pointing at the robot Echidna- the Egg Gigas- extending a set of steel claws similar to Knuckles.

"That would be so cool if it wasn't going to hurt us," one of the actors worriedly announced.

"I will deal with the stone echidna," Ahaw Kin declared. "You get rid of that gold machine. Hopefully we will find the Chao side of Sonic."

"We're going to have to work on that Chris, Swift, and Sonic thing of yours," Miles stated with a swirl. "But I agree with your plan. We'll help you as soon as Goldie is scrap metal. And whatever you do, keep Chris' family alive." Danny and Ahaw Kin soon activated their Chaos Morphers.

"**Chaos Soul, Take Flight!"**

"**Chaos Soul, Roar!"**

Back down on the battlefield, Chuck barely ducked out of the way of a stab by the Egg Gigas, who stabbed the stone pillar he was standing in front of. "I'm getting too old for this shit!" Chuck swore while grabbing one of the fallen Egg Pawns' guns and taking aim at the Egg Gigas. He shot the large statue in the leg, but all that did was make the Gigas angrier… if that was possible.

But before the large stone monster could attack, a red creature only about one eighth its size jumped on its head and dug his own claws into it. "Get the heck out of here!" he called down to the actors. "I'll deal with this behemoth!"

"There you go, Lindsey," Sam stated as he saw Knuckles try to avoid being thrown off of the Egg Gigas. "A real-life Mobian echidna."

"If it wasn't for the fact that we're being attacked by robots and ancient statues," Lindsey assured her older brother, "I'd be a little more interested, Sam!" The group began to retreat from the ruins, catching the attention of the golden Egg Pawn Elite standing on a high-up square shaped platform. He pulled out a bazooka, preparing to fire it-

"I don't think so," Tails' voice called out, shooting the Egg Pawn Elite in the back with his new Dummy Ring Rifle, paralyzing it. Tails then whipped his tails through the robot, spraying oil and metal parts everywhere, shutting the Egg Pawns around down.

'_That has got to be such an exploited weakness,'_ Danny told Miles as he watched the bottom of the robot fall down.

'_**I don't know,'**_ Miles pondered. _**'This guy's location was too easy for us… you would almost think it would be a trap.'**_

Before Danny could retort, the platform Tails was standing on suddenly flipped over, taking him to an unknown location. Meanwhile, with Knuckles, he was thrown through a pair of pillars by the Egg Gigas.

"Could use that back-up," Knuckles stated out loud. He then noticed Tails was missing. A bit confused, Knuckles triggered his own Chaos Sense… and noticed that Tails' energy went into the ground. "What in the…?"

Before he could even do anything about it, though, the Egg Gigas attempted to slam a closed fist on him, which he had to push back. Knuckles realized it as he started to slide back- wherever Swift and Tails were, he was on his own.

'_**If they both bailed on us,'**_ Spike told off Ahaw Kin, _**'I'm going to kill them.'**_

'_Somehow,'_ Ahaw Kin argued, _'I doubt that they would retreat at a time like this… not when there's so much at stake. Wherever they are, I doubt they're having as easy of a time as we are.'_

**Chris:** Damn it! I can't believe how late I am to this! Danny, Miles, Ahaw Kin, Spike, Swift… hold on until I get there, all right!

**Swift:** Oh, I'll hold on. I'm not letting Eggman get away with everything he's done!

**Robotnik:** Really, now, hedgehog Chao… do you think you can use the full potential of your own Chaos Emerald against mine when I have the Master Emerald?

**Swift:** You have a Chaos Emerald, too! Oh great, it's the element of my weakness. This isn't going to be pretty, but even if you have all that power, I'll still take you down!

**Ahaw Kin:** Guys, I hope you realize that I'm still alone out here!

**Spike:** We could really use the help, here!

**Danny:** Where the hell are we, anyways!

**Miles:** I don't know, but I do know that next time, on _Sonic Chao Chronicles_ is 'The Battle of Yaxchilán! Swift vs. the Master Emerald!'

**Swift:** Just try and keep up with me!


	20. Episode 8, Part 1

A/N: Ladies, gentlemen, and various other beings on the internet. I am terribly sorry about the delay of this latest chapter in _Sonic Chao Chronicles._

Edge: And I'm terribly sorry about me not doing any reviews last chapter. I had a cold!

A/N: Anyways, we better just start already.

* * *

**Robotnik's Yaxchil****á****n Base- 14:12**

Swift rubbed his head as he woke up. "I can't believe he just pulled the classic pitfall trap. Who does that, these days!" The hedgehog Chao noticed the corridor he had landed in. The walls around him were silver, metallic, and shiny enough that a bunch of Swifts were looking at one another in annoyance, each Swift matched with a swirl over his little spiked head.

However, at the end of the hallway was a large, red door with the Robotnik Empire's logo on it. Swift deviously grinned- this Robotnik guy (or Eggman as he's come to know him) may have just as well placed a sign over it that said, _"EGGMAN IS IN HERE. PLEASE BEAT AS MUCH SENSE OUT OF HIM AS POSSIBLE."_ If Chris or any of the others were around or if Swift was in a reasonable state of mind, he would have sensed how much of the trap this is. However, Swift was in a destructive mood, today, and nothing short of breaking every bone of his tiny little body would stop him from going after revenge.

Swift quickly ran through the door… and was greeted with a glass capsule dropping on him. "What in the…?"

"I must apologize," Robotnik stated as he walked in the room from behind Swift. "I knew Chao were easy to trap when they are angered, but I did not know you were _that_ easy."

"Eggman," the hedgehog Chao growled as he locked eyes with the scientist, a swirl over his head. "I hope you have some pretty decent life insurance… I don't want your next of kin to come out of this!"

"I take it you did not like what I did with your house," Robotnik sighed. "I'm sorry, but _you're_ the thief here. You stole, vandalized, and used official property of the Robotnik family, and, as part of your race's code, I am inclined to compensation."

"…Are you talking about those notes we found?" Swift asked, his swirl turning into a question mark. "If anything, they were there when we moved in, and the property was abandoned. Those notes belong to us because they came with it."

"I'm sorry, but I did not see a deed with it," the scientist countered. "No deed, no proof of ownership. Therefore, those notes did not belong to you. By the way, how do you like our guardian friends? They fought you over the Master Emerald, am I right?"

"Spike and Ahaw Kin?" Swift asked, calming down. "They're alright, now that they know that you stole it, among other misdeeds… but what does this entire conversation have to do with why you trashed my house!"

"To the point," Robotnik replied. "The notes… blueprints for a device- no, a _**weapon**_ that runs completely on Chaos Energy, once a foreign substance, now our very planet's life energy. Ahaw Kin and Spike… test subjects for a prototype of that weapon known as the Chaos Energy Powered Human-Chao Spiritual Unity Morpher, also known as a Chaos Morpher. The Master Emerald… stronger than the rest of the Chaos Emeralds, which are limitless producers of Chaos Energy."

"Where are you going with all of this?" Swift asked, banging on the inside of his prison.

"Please don't tap the glass," the scientist told the hedgehog. "It's bulletproof, so you won't escape without my say-so." Getting back to what he was saying, Robotnik explained, "I'm sure you have been paying attention to what havoc you and your human side have wrecked on my robot army. And I've seen your fox friend in action… interesting sidekick if I say so myself. And you know how powerful Ahaw Kin is. Three Neo Mobians are simply amazing.

"Now, picture this, my hedgehog Chao adversary: an elite army of highly trained warriors, each soldier armed with a powerful Chao and a Chaos Morpher. Whoever this army worked for would be unstoppable. And you and your friends could be generals of this army, and have whatever you want. All you have to do is submit to me… we both know this is the easier and right choice."

"Maybe," Swift scowled. "It's an interesting offer, but I'm already part of a team that will only get bigger without your help. And right now, we've been hired to take the Master Emerald back!" Rolling into his ball form, Swift bounced against the capsule quickly and hard enough to break through it, surprising the scientist. "Anyways, Eggman, you made a huge mistake bringing me to you. There's nothing stopping me from beating you senseless."

"Perhaps," Robotnik shrugged. "I suppose your powers come from your overexposure to the Chaos Energy within your own Chaos Emerald, so I might have underestimated you. But tell me… have you ever clashed with someone who also uses a Chaos Emerald?" Swift blinked in confusion until he caught a whiff of yet another Chaos Emerald.

"No way," Swift gasped in horror with an exclamation point over his head as Robotnik pulled out the light blue Emerald.

"Indeed," Robotnik replied as he clenched the light blue Chaos Emerald, somehow triggering its power. All of a sudden, a tidal wave rose right in between Robotnik and Swift, making the little hedgehog Chao cringe in fear. Swift was soon washed way back by the large wave.

**

* * *

Episode 8: The Battle of Yaxchil****á****n! Swift vs. the Master Emerald!**

**

* * *

Robotnik's Yaxchil****á****n Base, Opposite End- 14:15**

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" Tails yelled as he fell, barely stopping himself from hitting cold, hard ground by spinning his tails at the last second.

'_**Holy crap, that was close,'**_Miles breathed.

'_You can say- or think- that again,'_ Danny agreed as Tails softly touched down on the ground. _'What in the world happened?'_

'_**What I **_**want**_** to say happened was that the pillar collapsed sending us into an underground cave,'**_ Miles answered. _**'However, what I **_**know**_** happened is the pillar was an elaborate trap that sent us down here.'**_

'_Great,'_ Danny groaned as Tails began walking. _'Wonder why Robotnik threw us down here? What could possibly be more of a death sentence than that monstrosity that Ahaw Kin and Spike are fighting?'_ Soon, Tails walked into a large, circular room, where he was greeted by the sight of a swarm of Egg Pawns surrounding a stone platform. The robots were for some reason wearing clothing that vaguely resembled ancient Mayan warrior armor.

'_**You had to jinx us, didn't you?'**_Miles commented as the robots turned to them.

"_IS THAT THE SACRIFICE WE WERE PLANNING TO USE?"_ one of the Egg Pawns asked. _"I THOUGHT WE WOULD NEED A FEMALE VIRGIN OR SOMETHING TO APPEASE THE MASTER EMERALD SO IT WOULD WORK FOR THE DOCTOR."_

"_LET'S KILL HIM, ANYWAYS,"_ another robot replied. _"IT IS BETTER THAN JUST STANDING HERE AND GUARDING THE AREA TO THE MASTER EMERALD."_ Soon, the Egg Pawns protruded various swords and spears to use against the kitsune.

"Oh crap," Tails groaned as the robots came towards him. Pulling his Dummy Ring Rifle from his back, Tails took flight once again, narrowly avoiding being skewered by the Egg Pawns. The fox Neo Mobian took aim at one of them, firing a precise Dummy Ring to fry the robot's circuits. While the others were distracted by the sight of their comrade falling to the mysterious powers of the ring, Tails landed on the ground, and swung his tails through a few of them, easily ripping those robots in half.

'_I'm getting slightly better at fighting,'_ Danny commented as he flew over the robots again and towards the opposite side of the room, where a large door awaited him.

'_**Maybe,'**_ Miles agreed as Tails neared the door, _**'but let's focus on the present, now. We're running for our lives from killer robots.'**_ Tails landed near the door, and reached for the handle… only to have to jerk his hand away when it was nearly skewered by a thrown spear.

'_Killer robots with good aim!'_ Danny added as Tails returned fire, taking out a few of them. The fox boy, after running out of Dummy Rings, threw open the door, ran through it, and slammed it back shut.

'_**That was even closer than the fall,'**_ Miles remarked as Tails took a deep breath. When the fox looked up, he noticed that he had entered a maze.

'_Oh boy,'_ Danny announced as he looked at it through Tails' eyes. _'We have to navigate this!'_

'_**Unfortunately,'**_ Miles answered.

'_Why?'_

'_**Were you paying attention to their little spiel?'**_ Miles questioned. _**'They said that the Master Emerald is this way, and they're trying to unlock its power- not that I knew that it was even not working for them in the first place. We get through this maze, we find the Master Emerald, and we'll be able to give it to Spike and Ahaw Kin.'**_

'…_You're not serious, are you?'_ Danny questioned. _'Knowing this Robotnik guy and how easily caught off guard we were at the pier, there have to be some more traps waiting for us. Hopefully not of the giant robot variety, though.'_

'_**Do you want to go back there?'**_ Miles sarcastically remarked. Danny was about to answer, when another spear pierced through the door, narrowly avoiding Tails' head.

'_Maze sounds good,'_ Danny stated as Tails got up and ran into the maze. A good thing too, for almost moments later, the Egg Pawns burst through the door, and ran into the maze in an attempt to find their foxy foe.

**

* * *

Yaxchil****á****n Surface- 14:32**

"Oh crap!" Knuckles yelled before colliding head first into an old Mayan idol that was in the city. Pushing off the rubble, a bleeding Knuckles looked to see the Egg Gigas approaching him. The robot seemed to be built to fight against him- in the past near half hour, Knuckles had hardly damaged the robot. Weakly getting up, the Echidna looked at his claws- both sets were broken. Focusing his Chaos Energy, two new sets produced themselves.

'_**This is starting to hurt a little,'**_ Spike grumbled as Knuckles relocated his jaw.

'_Indeed,'_ Ahaw Kin agreed.

'_**Where did those two go, anyways?'**_ Spike questioned. _**'This monstrosity is really laying into us.'**_

'_We do not have time to find out, though. We have to hurry up and end this battle so we can find the Master Emerald.'_

Meanwhile, Lindsey's group looked at Knuckles preparing to continue his fight. "Is that echidna crazy!" Lindsey asked. "He'll kill himself!"

"So true," Chuck stated as Knuckles barely dodged a punch from the robotic echidna and running up its arm, claws ready to slice into the robot. However, the Egg Gigas was quicker than his footwork, easily grabbing the flesh echidna with his spare hand right before he could sink his claws into one of the robot echidna's eyes. The robot, deciding that this battle has gone on for far enough, began to squeeze the echidna in his hand-

_**BANG!**_

The battle was suddenly interrupted by Lindsey shooting her pistol into the robot's right eye. Surprisingly, this actually wounded the Egg Gigas, making him drop Knuckles and hold its eye in agony. However, this had a certain side effect- such as making the Egg Gigas turn its complete attention to the humans. Ignoring its weakened foe, the Egg Gigas began to storm over to them while Lindsey took aim once again, and pulled the trigger.

_**CLICK.**_

"You have _**got**_ to be kidding me," Lindsey breathed as she checked the gun's ammunition- it was dry.

"Sorry, sis," Sam nervously chuckled. "I didn't bring any extra ammo. It was a miracle I got these two through airport security."

"I pretty much own the airport!" Nelson argued as the Egg Gigas approached them, drawing back a metallically clawed fist. However, before the robot echidna could strike, its attention was yet again diverted by something. Except this time, it was a large pillar breaking itself over the Egg Gigas' head, courtesy of Knuckles.

"I thought I said that you all should leave!" Knuckles snapped at the humans while the Egg Gigas finally fell to the ground because of the impact. "I'll handle this; get out of here while you still can!"

"We're trying!" Springsteen yelled back at the echidna. "But considering how easily you were being clobbered, I'm not exactly sure we're going to be able to!"

Knuckles looked at the Egg Gigas struggling to get up. _'It looks like that thing is heavier than we thought,'_ Ahaw Kin stated.

'_**What do you mean, Ahaw Kin?'**_ Spike questioned.

'_The robot must be made of some really heavy metal on the inside,'_ the human guardian explained. _'Combined with those large rocks that makes its exterior and the metal claws caught in the ground…'_ As if to prove its point, both sets of the Egg Giga's claws were caught into the ground, further hindering it. _'This battle just turned to our favor.'_

'_**Is it time for my signature move?'**_ Spike hoped.

'_I suppose it will do enough damage for at least a brief victory,'_ Ahaw Kin announced. _'But that thing may dodge before we strike. Unless…'_

Knuckles then took the time to scan the battlefield, finding several abandoned firearms from the Egg Pawns. Since no more were showing up (as unbeknownst to him they were all below attempting to stop one of the intruders), he figured they were free. Quickly scooping up as many as he could, he dropped them over at the humans' feet.

"If you're going to fight alongside me," the flesh echidna stated, "do so from a distance. I will need time for this, so in case that thing starts moving, distract him." The echidna noticed a rock wall high enough for him to work from. While the others were confused, the Egg Gigas began to move again. However, before it could pull its claws out of the ground, a brown blur scooped up a gun and shot it a couple times in the eye, making it flinch.

"Chris!" Lindsey and Nelson both gasped as Chris lowered the gun.

"Sorry I'm late, mom and dad," Chris smiled at his folks.

"We would've been here sooner had we not had to drop off Miss Rose, Miss Burns, and Mr. Prower at the hotel," Tanaka apologized to the group as he ran over to them.

Chuck took Chris aside, and stated, "I'll bring you up to speed of what's happened after we get out of this mess." As Chris watched Knuckles climb, he had only one thing to whisper to his grandfather.

"Where's Tails?"

**

* * *

Underground Maze- 14:46**

"How many of you guys are there!" Tails called back to the Egg Pawns chasing him through the maze, not caring about the potential consequences that happened to them that were in the maze.

"_STOP THE FOX!"_ one of the Egg Pawns called out.

"_WE MUST PROTECT THE MASTER EMERALD!"_

'_**Damn it!'**_ Miles thought as Tails faced forward, using his namesakes to gain speed. _**'If only I had made more Dummy Rings!'**_

'_Don't we have any regular Power Rings?'_ Danny questioned. _'We could use the adrenaline!'_

'_**Remember the side effects,'**_ Miles stated. _**'After three minutes, we're hosed!'**_

'_Do you have any other suggestions?'_ Danny argued.

'_**Yeah,'**_ Miles replied. _**'Run faster! We need to get to the Master Emerald before they get us!'**_ As Tails looked back for a bit to see the swarm of Egg Pawns, Miles groaned, _**'If I had better control over my Chaos Energy, we could smoke these guys.'**_

'_You think that would work!'_ Danny questioned.

'_**It works for Swift and Chris when they're Sonic, and look what happened to the Speed Team!'**_ Tails continued running, and looked forward in just enough time to take flight once again. The Egg Pawn were confused… until every single one of them fell into a large pitfall trap, getting skewered on the sharp spikes that were in the pit. Tails had to wince in semi-sympathy at their misfortune.

"That's a way to get them all off of my heels," Tails stated as he landed on the other side of the pit. However, he realized that all of the running from the robots had made him not pay attention to which direction he was heading.

'_We're lost, aren't we?'_ Danny remarked.

'_**It doesn't help to point it out.'**_ The next thing either of them knew, they heard the rush of water from beyond the walls of the maze.

'_What the hell!'_ Danny questioned at the sound.

**

* * *

Underground Base- 14:51**

The last wave washed away, leaving a soaked Swift coughing and gagging. "You are probably wondering how I am doing this," Robotnik stated as he walked towards the hedgehog Chao. "How am I summoning wave after wave of water to pound you into defeat."

"I'm… not defeated… yet!" Swift growled, a swirl over his head. "Though the thought ran through my mind after the fifth one."

"A simple answer, really," Robotnik replied. "The ancient Greeks, while modern science proved their theory of four elements wrong, were on the right track. Did you know that they also studied the Chaos Emeralds, believing them to be sent from their gods?"

"… Not really," the Chao admitted. "But what does that have to do with this?"

"They discovered that the Chaos Emeralds could, very similar to their own gods, control the elements of nature itself. The light blue Emerald I wield was said to be a gift from the water god Poseidon, capable of manipulating any form of water… including water molecules in the very air that we are breathing."

"Really?" Swift asked. "You've been pounding me with water molecules in the air?"

"That by using the Chaos Emerald I have turned into regular liquid water," Robotnik finished. "However, that's not the only form of water I have used against you." Swift now had a question mark over his head, clearly stating his confusion. "Do you know why I chose this little set of ruins as my base of operations in Latin America?"

"You mean you have more bases?"

"All around the world," Robotnik bragged, "but that's beside the point. You see, not only is this a great tourist site, but I do require fresh water to function, being a human and everything. So… I chose a location with an underground water supply."

"…You've been attacking me with an underground lake, too?" the hedgehog Chao realized.

"That's one way to put it," Robotnik remarked. "Now, for the last time, you see how outmatched you are. This can be a lot easier if you just surrender."

"I don't think so," Swift replied, getting up and sinking into a fighter's stance. "I will have my revenge for what you did to my house, and I'll shut down your little Chaos Morpher operation while I'm at it!"

"Must we do this the hard way?" Robotnik sighed before summoning another tidal wave to send at Swift. However, the wave was literally blown in half by a burst of wind that knocked the scientist over, courtesy of Swift's dark blue Chaos Emerald.

"…To be dead serious," Swift stated while looking at his Emerald, "I was expecting something cooler, like a beam of pure light."

Getting up, Robotnik chuckled, "So you have the Emerald of Wind… a pity."

"What's wrong with using wind?" Swift asked while looking at his Emerald. "It knocked you over; I just neglected to follow through with it."

"Indeed it did," the scientist replied. "But of all of the Chaos Emeralds you could have used, you brought the weakest one of them. I suppose this explains your mach speed. Yet compared to my own, you are far outmatched."

"What do you mean?" Swift asked, a swirl over his head. "They're both equal sources of Chaos Energy!"

"True they are," Robotnik taunted Swift. "But however, your Emerald is easier to tame and you can only fire bursts of wind. And there is one additional factor that puts this battle in my favor."

"What?" Swift demanded. The next thing the hedgehog Chao knew, a new tidal wave slammed into him, washing Swift into the next room. Upon regaining his sense of direction, Swift looked at his downed Chaos Emerald, surprised to see that it lost its glow. Swift looked behind him, and gasped in surprise at the sight of a large green Emerald on a pedestal. "Is that the…?"

"Master Emerald?" Robotnik replied as he stood in the doorway. "Yes. It is. And while I myself am stumped to no end about how it works, it at least has stopped your Emerald."

"So we're back on even ground!" Swift stated. "Your Emerald is just as useless as mine! I can easily clobber that mustache right off of your face, Eggman!"

"Oh, really, now?" the scientist asked, holding up his Chaos Emerald once again. Before Swift could blink, a large ring of steam formed around Swift, surprising the hedgehog Chao and making an exclamation appear over his head. Then, the steam soon solidified into ice, freezing Swift from the neck down. "From my brief studies of the Master Emerald," Robotnik explained while pocketing his Chaos Emerald, "I have learned that there is a certain area of affect that it can make the Chaos Emeralds bend to its whim. I built this room so I could find the limits of the Master Emerald's radius. And as long as you're in this room, you can't use your Chaos Emerald."

"You cheated," Swift remarked, a swirl over his head.

"So what if I did?" the scientist asked.

"Mark my words," Swift scowled. "I will get out of here! A block of ice won't hold me!"

"You tell yourself that," Robotnik stated. "When you do, though, you'll be too cold and weak to keep that Emerald of yours safe." All of a sudden, the alarms went off in the base. "In the meantime," the scientist announced, "I have to deal with a few more… unwanted visitors." Soon, Robotnik left Swift and the Master Emerald alone. Barely able to turn his head, the hedgehog Chao growled in frustration.

How could he be so careless? He should have known the scientist challenging him was a potential trap, and he fell completely for it. Now, here he was, stuck in a block of ice right next to what should have been his primary objective rather than revenge. An embarrassing defeat. But now, whoever else was here was probably going to be given the same treatment. Until the start of this, he never knew Robotnik had a Chaos Emerald. Chances are, the rest of the world was just as clueless.

If he was going to stop Robotnik, he would have to get out of his own prison.

**

* * *

Human Card:** Nelson Thorndyke

**Occupation:** CEO of Meteor Tech Industries, Father

**Known Relatives:** Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke (wife), Christopher Thorndyke (son), Samuel Speed (brother-in-law), Charles Thorndyke (father)

**Hobbies:** Baseball, messing with gadgets, staying as far away from his wife's acting as possible

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, so I finally got this chapter over and done with. Sorry for the huge delay. I've been plagued by real-life stuff. Edge will now attempt to handle the reviews that he was sick for.

Edge's Corner: And since I'm feeling really good, I'll do it solo!

**Sozic:** Dude, you know the phrase "Crap happens?" Sorry, but it did. We're not like super-loyal-to-a-certain-schedule type of people, so we can't satisfy with updating that quickly. Also, we wanted more people for the contest. Speaking of which, maybe it was a bad idea on our part to give a deadline because we still want more entries to be competitive. As for last chapter, we were going to do reviews and add a bit more, but something screwed up and what you saw is what you got.

**Jyn-the-Raccoon:** Swift is stubborn, isn't he? But that's what makes him one-half of Sonic. Sonic in the games is just as stubborn and persistent as our little hedgehog Chao friend.

**Zohaku:** Yeah, Chris isn't exactly revealing his secret that he's Sonic the Hedgehog to them for a while. However, they have gotten out of the traps… for a bit.

**Hanzo of the Salamander:** I'm sorry we took so long. My cold got the better of me. Anyways, hopefully that won't happen again!

**Spark681:** Well, we obviously know how Tails and Swift are doing, but Knuckles' plan won't be completed until next chapter. Hopefully it's a good one!

**SuperSpeed:** Well, the battle's turned to Knuckles' favor, and- wait a minutes, you're a girl!

**White Hunter:** Swift gets huffy when he's angry- and unfortunately for us that's pretty damn huffy. So far, Swift's in another trap and Tails may be walking into one, though.

**Hit-N-Miss**: Wow, big one. First of all, let me say Kingdom Rider92 (you also know him on deviantART as BladeSquall) is very appreciative of the reviews you have done both here and _Ross' Fortune._ It's also nice to know someone agrees that _Sonic X,_ which this series is based off of, had so much potential, only to be ruined. However, we don't blame 4Kids completely… though their dubbing and censoring wasn't really appreciated by many of us.

It's true though, about this being a potential train wreck. I mean, this was started as an idea. Who knew that this extremely bad idea would turn into one of the greatest projects Kingdom Rider92 has ever written for this site. I mean, it's almost broken 100 reviews and it's only been 20 chapters. I guess excellence takes time. And besides, Chao like us have our funny moments. And so does Robotnik.

I can't believe how well Kingdom Rider92 managed to balance Robotnik's evil madman side with his extreme goofiness that _Sonic Colors_ recaptured for the games. We wanted to make sure that Robotnik stays Robotnik, after all, and having humorous minions he can bounce his comments off of and a variety of robots that look like animals does just that and more.

GUN… we wanted to keep them as the antiheroes they are in the games. Although the world knows they're the protectors of the people, you're right that they have a mentality that makes you wonder whose side they're on. And it's true nameless grunts don't live long. Anyways, that brainwashed agent we saw in Episode 4 was actually a major character. I can't believe people don't know who she is.

Thanks again! Back to you, Kingdom Rider!

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Well, that's it for year. Hope you guys have an awesome 2011! Kingdom Rider92, out!


	21. Episode 8, Part 2

A/N: Well, we may as well finish this episode up. I mean, we _do_ have to move the plot, and well, I want to get the Master Emerald taken care of. Oh, and before I forget, I'm no longer putting a due date for the contest. Keep sending in entries. Especially for the not-Freelance organizations.

* * *

**Chao Card:** Bokkun

**Type:** Dark, Demon, Flight/Power

**Known Powers:** Above average strength, flight, decent hand-to-hand combat

**Equipment:** Carrier Bag

* * *

**Yaxchil****á****n- 14:52**

Chris kept shooting the Egg Gigas to keep it distracted as his grandfather told him everything he knew. "And that's how we ended up in this mess," Chuck stated as Chris put down the smoking blaster. "You know, maybe I was wrong about your mother taking you to a shooting range."

"And you and dad said it would not be in my best interest to learn how to use a gun just in case I play a cameo role in one of mom's movies," Chris chuckled. Lowering his voice, Chris stated, "Anyways, I can't believe all of this happened. Swift and Tails are God knows where, and we're barely managing to hold down a giant stone version of Knuckles- he was tough without being a giant robot!"

"What was that?" Lindsey questioned, taking a few shots at the Egg Gigas herself.

"Nothing, mom! Just me and Grandpa talking!" Looking up at Knuckles, who was now at the top of an old pyramid, Chris muttered, "Whatever you're up to… make it quick! I don't think bullets are working, anymore." He then shot it one last time, as he only had one more bullet. "Yeah, I'm dry with ammo."

The echidna, now looking at the Egg Gigas finally getting up, took a deep breath. _'Are you ready for this, Spike?'_ Ahaw Kin questioned his Chao ally.

'_**I **_**hatched**_** ready for this,'**_ the echidna Chao answered. Knuckles then jumped off of the tower, extending his arms, and flying towards the Egg Gigas that was now looking up at him. However, only one thing came to the minds of Chris, Chuck, Lindsey, Nelson, Sam, and Tanaka.

"He can _fly!"_ all six of them asked each other. However, when Knuckles was right over the Egg Gigas, the graceful flight turned into a murderous, headfirst, downward spiral, almost like a drill. What happened next was nothing short of amazing. The Egg Gigas' head instinctively snapped backwards as the red bullet pierced into it at amazing speeds, going all of the way through the back of its head and slamming into the ground, where it stopped. Knuckles pulled both of his fists out of the ground, and looked up to see the Egg Gigas falling forwards, its broken mass creating a crater in the ground.

"That… was… awesome," Springsteen's cameraman broke the silence.

"Note to self," Springsteen stated. "Do not mess with those things."

"That was amazing," Chris breathed. "Who knew echidna could fly?"

"That was not flying!" Knuckles corrected. "Echidna don't fly- they _glide!_ It's pretty much falling with style thanks to wind currents under our quills!"

"Flying, gliding, whatever!" Lindsey cheered. "I think I know what exactly we should put in the movie, now, thanks to you!" The echidna rubbed the back of his head, awkwardly chuckling. Lindsey, meanwhile, walked towards the Egg Gigas, interested. "Now, as for your… fallen rival. Who would build such a monster?"

"Lindsey," Nelson suggested while walking towards it, "you shouldn't go near that thing. What if it goes back online?"

"I don't think you can do too much about a massive hole in the head," Lindsey argued. "The force of the impact alone was enough to kill that thing. Besides, it's not going to do anything else. I could use this to find out some things so we can use it for the movie." All of a sudden, the ground underneath them began to rumble.

"Now what!" Nelson questioned. Chris' senses suddenly spiked up. Looking at the Egg Gigas, he could tell, just barely though, that the ground underneath it was breaking apart due to too much of an impact made by Knuckles.

"Mom, dad!" Chris called to his parents. "Run!" The two were confused until the ground beneath the Egg Gigas finally collapsed, creating a huge hole that led into Robotnik's base, taking Chris' parents with it. Chris, scared for his parents, ran towards the hole in time to see a winged Dark Chao catching the two of them by their collars.

"Well, well, well," the Dark Chao smiled at the two, "look at what we have, here!"

"Could you put us down?" Lindsey awkwardly laughed.

"Sure," the Dark Chao smiled, making the two sigh. "How do you want to go?" This made both Lindsey and Nelson stare at him in shock. "TV bomb? Smothering? A very large drop? Because all I have to do for the last one is let go, and that's too easy."

"I think she meant 'put us down _on the ground'!"_ Nelson yelled at the Dark Chao, who had a swirl over his head.

"I knew what you meant," he scowled. "Can't people take a joke? It was _her_ unfortunate choice of words that set it up."

"Okay, we get it," Lindsey rolled her eyes. "Can you _please_ let us on the ground?"

"Sorry," the dark Chao chuckled, "but Dr. Robotnik wants a couple hostages to secure his soon departure, and you two will do nicely."

"Oh no you don't!" Chris yelled as he jumped towards the Chao, grabbing the devilish tail. The Dark Chao, surprised to see a human having that kind of guts and getting an exclamation point over his head, nearly dropped the two humans he was holding. However, a few Egg Beetles began to swarm around the group, surprising Chris. Luckily, Knuckles managed to jump into the fray- literally. Before the Egg Beetles could fire their lasers, Knuckles dropped down, stabbing each set of claws into an Egg Beetle.

Ripping his left hand out of the robot's head, Knuckles grabbed Chris' arm, yanking him off of the Dark Chao, and, tearing his right hand from the other Egg Beatle, stabbed his claw into the nearby wall, scrapping the rock wall for a while until friction made them come to a halt. "Thank Chaos _that's_ over with," Knuckles sighed as the Dark Chao, no longer hindered, flew deep into the base.

"Knuckles," Chris scowled, "that Chao has my parents!"

"I know that," Knuckles replied. "But in this form, Sonic, you are _human,_ not a _Mobian hedgehog._ If you wish for revenge, you must find the Chao half of you first. Only then will you be able to wreak the havoc on our enemies that you need to. But until then, I'm quite literally the only thing keeping you alive!" Chris looked down to see that they were quite high, and Knuckles' claws were, in fact, the only thing that was preventing his fall to his death.

"…Fine," Chris growled. "Just get me down, and I'll settle this."

"So you're the psychopaths I have to blame for nearly being crushed to death," Tails' voice joked as he flew up towards them and took Chris off of Knuckles' hands. "You guys make an entrance. Chris, how many times do I have to fly you out of certain death? If this becomes a reoccurring thing, we may have a problem."

"Danny," Chris scowled, "I don't think now's the best time for jokes. I have to get down there, find Swift, and rescue my parents. Now, put me _down!"_ Tails blinked at the serious tone that Chris had yelled at him in. But more specifically, the mention of his parents- they were in danger?

"…Okay," Tails nodded, lowering Chris to the ground. Knuckles, using his gliding, easily caught up to them. "…We should find Swift before we do anything else," the kitsune suggested. "I have no idea how to use that Chaos Sense thing Swift can use, so tracking the little Chao who always has to be on the move is near impossible."

"Chaos Sense?" Knuckles chuckled. "Why didn't you just ask me?" He then closed his eyes, and focused his own Chaos Energy in an attempt to pinpoint Swift. However, all he got was a bigger gem… one that was very important to him. "Guys… I think I found something we originally came here for. Specifically, the very thing that both sides of me were bound to protect."

"…The Master Emerald?" Chris remembered. Knuckles, rather than answer, broke into a full-out run. Chris and Tails, confused, ran off after him.

* * *

**Master Emerald Chamber- 15:01**

Swift angrily struggled to get out of the ice. "Some hero I turned out to be," Swift grumbled, a swirl over his head. "I lose my cool… and now I'm quite literally on ice. I swear, there are so many bad puns I can make about this, it's not even funny." Sighing, Swift looked back at the major reason why he was stuck in a block of ice- the Master Emerald.

If Swift was anywhere else in the world, he would've used the grip he had on his Chaos Emerald to use the power of wind to slice his icy prison in half and- after working off the issue of frostbite- be on his way out of here. However, he was stuck right next to the Master Emerald- essentially the number one source of Chaos Energy. He knew the stories of its might… how it stopped the Chaos Emeralds since they were easily subjected to its power, as it can create order out of the one thing they were fueled by- chaos. Never in his short life did Swift imagine being in the same room as the Master Emerald.

And here he was. Unfortunately, it was also the one thing that was keeping him trapped from the neck down in ice. Swift, getting sick and tired of not being able to do anything, began to struggle back and forth, attempting to use enough force to break the ice cube he was in and escape. He didn't know where Robotnik was heading- and it was very disturbing to him. How was the battle on the surface- if there was one?

"_HEY!"_ a robot's voice spoke up from outside of the room. _"WHO ARE YOU? YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO BE IN HERE- AAH!"_ All of a sudden, there was the noise of metal being ripped apart. Soon the door to the room flung open, revealing Knuckles with his fists covered in oil. Swift, upon seeing Knuckles walking in followed by Tails and Chris, had an exclamation point of surprise above his head.

"…I hope we're not interrupting anything," Knuckles announced, looking at the struggling Chao.

"I've already went through every ice pun that came to mind," Swift announced. "So, please save me the trouble and don't make any."

"I wasn't going to," Chris announced as he walked over to Swift. "But I'm both disappointed and concerned about you Swift. Running off before we even had a plan was no doubt the stupidest thing I've seen you do in the brief time we've been together! We had no idea what was going on, here, and even though you are a super powered Chao, you're still just a Chao. Now, we're no closer to stopping Robotnik's operation than we were before."

Swift looked down at the ground as Chris looked at the ice. Swift sighed, "…You're right. I was stupid thinking it would be _that_ easy…" Looking up, the hedgehog Chao scowled, "But I found out his plan, Chris." The boy looked at his Chao, who explained, "Using the Master Emerald behind me, he definitely plans to power an army's worth of Chaos Morphers… and he really does have the blueprints from mine and Miles' house. Considering all of this technology lying around, we all know that he has the resources to do it."

"Well," Knuckles grinned as he placed his hands on the Master Emerald, "it's a good thing I'm here. The Master Emerald will not be used for such a purpose as long as there is a breath in my body." Chris and Tails stared at the Master Emerald as Knuckles began muttering to himself… Chris with more intent than the fox Neo Mobian.

'_So _this_ is the Master Emerald Swift, Ahaw Kin, and Spike mentioned,'_ the boy thought as he neared it. _'…Amazing. I don't know why… but I can't help but feel drawn to it.'_ When he reached out a hand to touch it, the large Emerald shrunk down to the size of a regular Chaos Emerald, gently landing in Knuckles' hand. Chris, on the other hand, fell over. Tails blinked at the scenario.

"I probably should point out that an incantation allows the Master Emerald to adjust its size, making transporting it a lot easier," Knuckles announced, placing the Master Emerald on his person.

(A/N: You guys remember that one scene in _Sonic Adventure 2_ where Knuckles pulled the Master Emerald from his quills? You know, right before Cannon's Core and again right after the Biolizard fight? How else can the Master Emerald- or its fragments, mind you- be so easy for him to carry all over the place if Knuckles didn't know some sort of magic spell to transport it around? Same gimmick was used again for the final battle in _Sonic Battle's _story mode to take it aboard the spaceship when Sonic went to stop Emerl from blowing up the Earth. And besides, in that same SA2 scene before Cannon's Core, the Master Emerald was about the same size as the Green Chaos Emerald and with the exception of certain features could pass as the Green Emerald's twin. That being said, I call magic.)

'_That makes about as much sense as the rest of the things we have to go through,'_ Danny stated to Miles as Tails helped Chris up.

'_**That's not important, right now,'**_ Miles scowled. _**'What is important is that Robotnik is planning on using the adjustments to the Chaos Morpher blueprints I personally made and is going to amass an army, just like Dr. Naka said he would. As Neo Mobians, we're dangerous enough, and you and I make up the weakest one of us in terms of physical skills. But an army of them on the same level as Sonic and Knuckles? Not even GUN stands a fair chance! America is doomed if we don't shut this operation down!'**_

'_How?'_ Danny questioned. _'We don't even know where to begin-'_

'_**Yes we do,'**_ Miles answered. _**'But I don't like what I'm going to suggest. We have to destroy the blueprints before they're mass-produced by him… provided he doesn't have a photographic memory like I do.'**_

'_If you have this by photographic memory,'_ Danny questioned, _'why does it matter if we destroy them?'_

'…_**It's that I worked so hard on those blueprints,'**_ Miles answered. _**'I essentially took the Chaos Morpher blueprints and made them my own. The Morpher is practically my baby… destroying its original is going to be hard on me. …But for the good of humanity and Chao-kind, we have to do it. Nobody else on the planet can know about this but us.'**_

'_Can't you just settle for stealing them back from him? Because I thought that was the original plan, here.'_

'_**And risk **_**him**_** stealing it back from us or worse, **_**another**_** evil organization getting their filthy mitts on the blueprints and building Chaos Morphers for their schemes?'**_ Miles questioned. _**'No. I can't. Not only would it be stupid to go back and forth between acts of thievery for one little stack of papers that could be easily copied, but who knows how many people will get their hands on the blueprints before it becomes out of hand. I'd rather end the Morpher game quickly rather than risk it all like this.'**_

Out loud, Tails announced, "Guys, we have to find and destroy the Morpher blueprints." Swift, Chris, and Knuckles looked at the fox in confusion. "The Chao side of me says that we can't afford to let Robotnik mass-produce the Chaos Morphers, because that will be the main part of his plan. After he has enough Morphers to work with, he may start finding people for an army- more than enough to decimate GUN and the United States. The Chao side of me would rather see the blueprints burn in hell before letting somebody like Robotnik use them for world domination." The others aptly nodded… except Swift.

"That's pretty noble," the hedgehog Chao announced with a question mark over his head, "but where would Eggman put something _that_ important? He has bases all over Earth- this is just one of them, and I doubt it's here. He wouldn't keep it in any part of Latin America- that would be stupid and easily recoverable."

"Not as stupid as you going solo and ending up in a block of ice," Chris stated. "Speaking of which, how the hell do you get trapped in a block of ice? We're in a warmer part of the world."

"That leads to some… other bad news," Swift sheepishly announced, a swirl over his head. "He has the light blue Chaos Emerald." Chris and Tails both gasped, while Knuckles did not seem as surprised. The echidna nervously chuckled at that, causing the others to turn to him. "…You knew, didn't you?" Swift scowled.

"Sorry," Knuckles answered. "Robotnik told my human and Chao side that you all were gathering the Chaos Emeralds, and he found one to compete against you. That, along with the assumption that you stole the Master Emerald to nullify the Chaos Emeralds, caused me to attack you all."

"And this is the first time we're hearing this?" Chris groaned. Knuckles reluctantly nodded. "…This just complicates things. You guys know what? We'll cross all of these bridges- the Morpher blueprints, the Chaos Emerald, and Robotnik's Morpher army- when we come to each of them. Right now, we have a more immediate problem- my family is in danger." Swift then had an exclamation point over his head at that piece of news.

"What?" the hedgehog Chao questioned.

"I'll explain on the way. But first, Swift, let's get you out of that ice block."

"Finally!" the hedgehog Chao grinned as Chris activated his Chaos Morpher.

"**Chaos Soul, Activate!"** Swift and Chris disappeared in a cyan flash, and the heat of the Chaos Energy used for the transformation easily melted the ice. Sonic emerged from the flash, his quills dripping in water, holding the dark blue Chaos Emerald in his hand- the gem's glow returning thanks to the Master Emerald's power being muffled by Knuckles.

"Let's find my human side's folks," Sonic grinned at his two partners before speeding off towards where Chris remembered where his parents were taken.

* * *

**Robotnik's Escape Chamber- 15:13**

Robotnik was not stupid. He knew that with his Egg Gigas' destruction- as well as several of his Egg Pawns falling victim to the underground maze's spike pit- any further attempts to keep his Yaxchilán base were going to be futile efforts. That meant that he would have no choice but to let the Master Emerald fall back into the guardians' hands. As much of a loss that is, though, the base had served its purpose- it was only built to _study_ the Master Emerald's power, not to keep it one-hundred percent _safe._ And he got more than enough research done to find out that there is a codeword involved… a phrase that activates the Master Emerald.

Now, he had to escape. But he couldn't leave Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun… the three were perhaps the only friends he had left. _"Doctor!"_ Bocoe's voice announced. Robotnik turned to see Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun entering the room, Decoe holding a struggling Lindsey and Bocoe restraining Nelson.

"I was wondering when you three would show up!" Robotnik greeted the three as they approached. "And who might I ask do we have here?"

"None of your damn business," Lindsey scowled. "And for the record, you have quite the rude Chao. When I raised one, she was a proper little thing rather than this little devil." Bokkun rolled his eyes, a swirl over his head.

"_Bokkun,"_ Bocoe questioned, _"why did you insist that we detain these two humans, again?"_

"Am I the only one who thought we could use an exit strategy?" Bokkun questioned the others. "I mean, really, guys?"

"Good job, Bokkun," Robotnik smiled, making Decoe and Bocoe stare at their Dark Chao companion in jealousy while Bokkun had a heart over his head. "Because we're done, here. We'll head to our main base." As Robotnik approached the Egg Balloon, Decoe and Bocoe looked at each other, confused.

"_Doctor,"_ Decoe stated, _"I'm not seeing the Master Emerald being frantically loaded onto your airship. Is it already on board with the Chaos Emeralds?"_

"Actually," Robotnik sheepishly announced, "we don't have time or the robots to get the Master Emerald on board. Not to mention I couldn't get the other one." All three of his minions looked at him in shock, Bokkun's heart turning into an exclamation point.

"We're giving up the Master Emerald after we spent so much time on it?" Bokkun questioned. "Why?"

"This base is compromised now," Robotnik stated. "With the loss of the Egg Gigas thanks to our little guardian problem, we're out of high-level defenses for this base. And besides, we have enough to go off of. If our operation is going to run smoothly in the future, we have to get out of here… _now."_

"What are you all even talking about?" Nelson spoke up, making everyone turn to him and Lindsey. "Chaos Emeralds? Bases? And you _know_ that echidna that destroyed that monster? Okay, who the _**hell**_ are you people!" Robotnik sighed.

"If you must know," the scientist announced, "I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, soon to be Emperor of the world. Consider it an honor to be in my presence."

"Doctor Ivo Robotnik of the infamous Robotnik family?" Lindsey breathed. Turning to her husband, Lindsey stated, "I thought most traces of the Robotnik family disappeared almost twenty-five full years ago."

"Most traces did," Robotnik replied. "But now, you two are my guests. Or, as Bokkun bluntly put it, my hostages."

"_Doctor,"_ Decoe inquired, _"getting back to our previous discussion, is it wise to just leave without the Master Emerald?"_

"It's the only way we'll get out of here on schedule, right now," Robotnik replied. "I already have the bombs that will cover our tracks armed and ready. We'll detonate them as soon as our altitude reaches a safe distance."

"You're going to cause the rest of Yaxchilán to implode?" Lindsey realized. Robotnik just chuckled.

"And risk the public eye to catch onto what happened here?" the scientist rhetorically asked. "Hell no! I figured I'd just settle for using the underground lake that is right next door to this little facility as well as my Chaos Emerald of Water to flood the place! Easier on me than figuring out a way to explain how a national monument was destroyed."

"And what are you going to do with us?" Nelson demanded. The scientist looked at his wrist, as if he was waiting for something while pulling out a detonator switch.

"What I'm going to do with you two should start right about…"

"About time I found you!" Sonic's voice called out, making everyone in the room turn to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. "Dr. Robotnik."

"No… bloody… way," Lindsey breathed, clearly excited to be in the same room as all three members of Team Sonic… particularly the Blue Blur himself. "Sonic the Hedgehog… here?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails the Fox, and Knuckles the Echidna," the scientist shot back. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way… what brings you here, Team Sonic?"

"Don't play dumb with us, scientist!" Knuckles growled. "We have the Master Emerald again! You have nothing left, here! Surrender and I will limit your suffering to only a broken arm."

"As if that's going to coax me into surrendering myself when I have the real bargaining chips, here," Robotnik pointed out, looking at Lindsey and Nelson. "I think you dropped something when you destroyed my Egg Gigas, my guardian friend?" Sonic scowled at the two robots holding his human half's parents.

"What do you want for their release, Robotnik?" Sonic questioned.

"Safe passage out of here," the scientist demanded, getting straight to the point. "As well as no attempts by you to follow- you have no further reasons to follow me, today, now that you have your Master Emerald, back."

"I call bull on the 'no further reason' part," Tails spoke up as he stepped forward. "You still have the blueprints you stole from that house, and the Chaos Emerald of your own. Whether you hand them both over or we have to take them back by force, we're ending this, right now." Robotnik, to counter, held up the detonator.

"One more step, fox boy," Robotnik warned, "and I will flood this goddamn underground base with more than enough water pressure to crush the lot of us."

"It's true," Nelson spoke up. "He really does have bombs placed to blow a hole into a neighboring underground lake. The Robotniks are all crazy- he will drown us all."

"Ignoring the 'crazy' crack at my family," Robotnik stated while rolling his eyes, "listen to the man. He knows I wouldn't lie about an underground lake… would I, Sonic?" Sonic blinked in confusion- it was obvious that his human half wasn't aware of it. But the Chao side of Swift, who was defeated by it, was aware of the lake's existence.

'_**He's not lying, Chris,'**_ Swift answered. _**'He used the water from it to put me in that block of ice… and beat the tar out of me with waves. And since you can't swim as Sonic thanks to my one hindrance, I think we should give in… for now.'**_

'_That's gotta hurt your ego,'_ Chris announced. _'Physically, Swift, you've learned your lesson. But you're still in trouble when we get out of here.'_

Out loud, Sonic announced, "So you do have a lake… and since I can't swim, that's kind of bad." Looking at Tails and Knuckles, he sighed, "We're going to have to let him go."

"What?" Tails questioned. "What if he takes them with him?"

"I have absolutely no reason to," Robotnik interjected, nodded to Decoe and Bocoe, who let Lindsey and Nelson go. "They were just collateral for you 'hero types'. Though, since we have our guardian friend, here… I have an important question just for you." Knuckles raised an eyebrow in confusion that the scientist was not done tormenting him. "What's the incantation?"

"'Incantation'?" Knuckles questioned.

"For the Master Emerald to reach full power and stop the Chaos Emeralds completely," Robotnik explained, "a certain incantation must be said. Surely you know it?"

"…I honestly have no idea of the incantation," Knuckles said with reluctance. Robotnik frowned, displeased with this piece of information.

"Very well," the scientist announced, backing up towards the Egg Balloon. "It seems we are done here… though, just to be sure I do not have to worry about you all going back on your end of the deal…" He then returned the detonator to his pocket, but pulled out a different switch. "I'm going to let you play with one of my Egg Pawn Giants." He then pressed the button on it.

"Do I even want to know what an Egg Pawn Giant is?" Sonic questioned the scientist. The hedgehog's senses then picked up before he had to dodge a giant hammer slamming into the spot where he was a second before. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles looked up to see a giant, black and red, thick-armored Egg Pawn-like robot with buff arms, thin legs, carrying a hammer over his shoulder. "You have _**got**_ to be kidding me!"

"No," Robotnik chuckled. "I'm not. I really did build a _bigger_ Egg Pawn and give it a giant hammer to crush people with… and knock down buildings."

"…I hate you now," Sonic scowled as he looked at the Egg Pawn Giant. Robotnik took the opportunity to slip into his Egg Balloon, with Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun, leaving Team Sonic to prepare for the menacing Egg Pawn Giant.

* * *

**Robot Card:** Egg Pawn

**Model:** E-1001

**Equipment:** Various Weapons (Egg Blaster, Egg Bazooka, Egg Lance), light armor, equipment based off of certain themes (for humor)

**Purpose:** Foot soldier, guards, workers for when organics are not capable

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Happy Groundhog's Day, peoples! You know, this holiday kind of seems useless for us. I mean, with all of the media and flashing cameras surrounding the furry little guy, that groundhog's always going to see his shadow. And even if he doesn't, we still have to wait until March for the first day of spring. Luckily, you guys only had to wait a month for part 2 of episode eight. I told myself this would only be a 3-episode story arc because the next arc will be important.

Speaking of important announcements, if the author's note at the beginning of the chapter didn't specify, I'm no longer having a definite deadline for entries to the contest. That's right- any future deadlines are undecided right now. I want people to keep sending entries in… you know, maybe I should eliminate the Pirates of Arcadia faction, as they're not going to be important, right now… and nobody even bothered to apply for them. Though I _do_ want more entries for Gerald's Children, the Robotnik Empire (especially now knowing what Robotnik's plan is), and GUN… you'll see why later.

Edge's Corner: Well, I'm not surprised. Hey, since my cold is better… how about I do my radio show with this Groundhog Chao, Dusty?

Dusty: Wait, what? Okay… here we go.

**Samswimmer by Edge:** Chris acknowledged the fact that the Egg Gigas was a threat that wouldn't die with one shot. No need to worry about a dislike of repeated violence from us.

**Spark681 by Dusty:** Well… Swift was helped by the rest of the field members of Team Sonic. Hopefully, Swift will learn from his mistakes, right?

**Hanzo of the Salamander by Edge:** Okay, just in case my immune system doesn't like me, I got that cactus, the lard, the sombrero, and I have a baboon on the way. What do I do with it all?

**Sozic by Edge:** Like we said in the chapter, Chris' mom has taken him to a few shooting ranges for her acting career and if he ever had to cameo in one of her movies. As for how Swift broke out of his icy prison, well, there we go.

**kirbyisawesome by Dusty:** Looks like he did… and since part 3 of episode 8 isn't as long as the other parts, we should be done, soon.

**Hit-N-Miss by Edge:** Looks like I'm in for another long one. Okay, first of all, good eye for everybody for spotting Topaz as the episode's antagonist. Secondly, for all "Topaz-related" rumors, Kingdom Rider92 is not at all able to confirm her as Rouge right now for a variety of reasons. We will cross that bridge when we come to it- and that will not be until after the next story arc.

Anyways, Kingdom Rider92 figured that for _Ross' Fortune,_ he'd attempt to connect the past and the present in a decent order, especially considering all of the characters he has to use for the story. For this one, though, the Emerald Powers were an attempt at utilizing the elemental powers of those in _Power Stone_ (one of his favorite fighting games of time). As for how the powers work, well… we figured the Emeralds couldn't be called "Chaos Emeralds" if they weren't able to cause natural disasters or some sort of chaos and destruction. And Maria II, I really like her, myself. We wanted to remind people that while she's a genius who is affected by this new turn of events especially considering her relationship to the Robotniks, she's also a teenage girl.

Swift can't stay of trouble, can he? Well, Swift represents the ego and "rushing in headfirst" personality of Sonic in a Chao form, so no matter in what form Swift is, he's still the "act first, ask questions later" Chao we know and love. As for Robotnik beating Tails, I wanted to highlight any potential fighting abilities that Robotnik happened to have from previous incantations… and Tails, compared to Sonic and Knuckles, is no fist fighter. Speaking of Knuckles, he totally deserved to drill that robot in the face… and the rest of the head.

Anyways, Kingdom Rider92 understands… he'll take some time to breathe. Just be sure to snipe the flamers.

**White Hunter by Dusty:** Swift and the Master Emerald have been recovered. That's good… though they now have a juggernaut robot to deal with.

**SuperSpeed by Dusty:** Yeah… Edge and Kingdom Rider92 are both surprised. Anyways, I believe Swift and Miles will answer the question in a flashback within the next story arc. The Morpher blueprints are going to be a major plot device within the next four episodes.

**Jyn-the-Racoon by Dusty:** Well, they're not beating the ever-loving snot out of Robotnik… but they have done everything else.

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, well, that should take care of the comments. Anyone who wants in on the story is free to participate in the contest- the rules and sign-up sheet should still be in there. Kingdom Rider92, out!


	22. Episode 8, Part 3

A/N: Well, it's high time we put this baby to bed- I really should get to the next arc. It'll start answering a few questions.

* * *

**Equipment Card:** Battle Scanner Sunglasses

**Inventor:** Miles

**Purpose:** To analyze the heat signatures of both organic and metallic beings and increase Swift's attack accuracy.

**Notes:** "Before I built these things, Swift was a reckless fighter. Now... he's still reckless, but his aim's improved. If only I could build something to reduce his recklessness..."

* * *

**Yaxchil****á****n Surface- 15:08**

"Let me go!" Sam growled to the other members of the set holding him back from the hole where the Egg Gigas once was. "That's my little sister, my brother-in-law, and my nephew down there!"

"Master Sam," Tanaka spoke up, "I suggest you calm down before we lose you, too. The last thing we need right now is another person down there."

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Just trust that they'll be alright," Chuck suggested, looking in the hole. He saw the underground base, and sighed. "At least pray that they'll be alright."

* * *

**Robotnik's Escape Chamber- 15:11**

"This is not alright!" Sonic yelled before dodging the large war hammer that the Egg Pawn Giant swung down at him, leaving quite the crater. Looking at the impact site, Sonic whistled. "I can't believe how easily that thing is swinging that hammer around!"

"You're telling me!" Tails pointed out. "You're the one most used to fighting robots like this!"

"I know," Sonic scowled, looking at the Egg Pawn Giant. From the looks of the massive machine, Sonic's eyes couldn't find a part of its armor that his Homing Attack, Sonic Boost, or Spin Dash could break through. Tails' abilities were not going to work- he was clear out of Dummy Rings to cripple it, and even if he did have some, it would take a lot to slow the Egg Pawn Giant down. The only one who could do any amount of damage to the Egg Pawn was clearly Knuckles… but he didn't know where to start.

All of a sudden, the Egg Balloon began to rise, drawing the attention of everyone still in the chamber but the Egg Pawn Giant. Knuckles growled. "He's getting away!"

"Well," Lindsey commented, "he at least won't flood the place… will he?"

"Somehow, I doubt that," Sonic stated. "He wouldn't want anyone be able to prove this place exists, but he'll want to get a safe distance for him, first." All of a sudden, a horizontal swing of the Egg Pawn Giant's hammer connected into the hedgehog, sending him flying into the stone wall.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning," Tails winced as Sonic pulled himself from the wall, wiping a little blood from his mouth.

"You can say that again," the hedgehog groaned.

'_**Chris… can I talk?'**_ Swift spoke up.

'_What is it?'_

'_**The Battle Scanner still works… I almost forgot about it.'**_ Chris then blinked at it- how could he forget? Sonic soon flashed the sunglasses over his eyes, and started looking at the Egg Pawn Giant… only to have to dodge a vertical hammer swing at the last second.

"Shoot," Sonic growled. Tails and Knuckles, not used to Sonic's Battle Scanner sunglasses (although the Chao side of Tails was), stared at him in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Knuckles demanded from the hedgehog.

"Trying to find a weak spot for you to hit!" Sonic replied. "No doubt with that armor, Tails and I can't do much. But you're used to this."

"…Oh," Knuckles stated, realizing Sonic complimented his strength.

"I need a distraction from that thing," Sonic replied.

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Tails laughed. "Robotnik didn't make these robots to have any real brains. I mean, I tricked an entire platoon of these Badniks of yours into falling into a spike pit, so how hard could it be?"

"If I may interject," Nelson told the three, "I don't think the big robot with the hammer would take too kindly to insults."

"What makes you say that?" Tails questioned. He had to quickly avoid a hammer impact on the ground, but the force of the impact sent a shock wave that sent the fox flying, landing right behind Nelson.

"That did," the businessman replied. Tails sat up, an idea in his head.

'_We're going to pay dearly for this,'_ Danny pointed out, _'but it's for the good of the team.'_

'_**Just try to keep us alive,'**_ Miles remarked. _**'Insults are risky.'**_

"Find that weak spot, Sonic," the fox grinned. "I'll keep it busy." Sonic blinked in confusion before Tails yelled, "Hey, scrap brain! Did Robotnik make your body from whatever junk was lying around, or were you just _designed_ to be ugly?" The fox grabbed Nelson, and flew to the right as Lindsey got up and dodged to the left before the hammer came down.

"Don't screw up, Tails," Sonic muttered as he flipped the Battle Scanner back down over his eyes. Tails, being careful with Nelson, began shouting various insults to work up the Egg Pawn Giant. Some of which the human side of Sonic was surprised that Tails even knew. However, he managed to get what he wanted- a weak spot. It should have been obvious to him from the start- but it was a matter of knocking the metal behemoth down.

"Did you find anything, yet?" Tails yelled. "I'm running out of creative robot insults! I think I _really_ pissed him off with the one about his mother being a toaster with more gentlemanly collars than the operator." As if to prove his point, Tails had to let go of Nelson and fly out of the way of a horizontal swing of the large war hammer.

"Where did you even _get_ half of those?" Sonic questioned. "I could use them."

"If I may interrupt," Lindsey told the two, "you haven't answered his question, Sonic."

"Oh, right," Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, and it makes me feel a bit stupid. It's the head… but it's too high, and I don't think Knuckles could make a repeat performance up there." Lindsey blinked at the bit of the slip up in Sonic's words. She didn't know Sonic was on the surface… if he was, then why didn't he fight with Tails and Knuckles?

Before she could discuss it, Knuckles stated, "He would see it coming _and_ we might be near the lake… but how do we stop it?"

"I have an idea," Tails stated, pulling out two Power Rings for Sonic and Knuckles. The two could at least knock it down with the three-minute boost of power… not that they exactly knew. Throwing one to Sonic, Tails said, "You know what to do!" Sonic looked at the Ring in his hand.

'_**This can combine with the Bracelet for a full Chaos Energy boost,'**_ Swift explained to Chris. _**'However, Miles said something about a 3-minute time limit that we'll be exhausted after… but hey, we could use the superhuman strength.'**_ Sonic looked at the cobalt bracelet, and pressed a button on it, letting the blue color fade to a plain white. The hedgehog then slid the Power Ring on, and pressed the button, allowing the Chaos Energy from the ring to flow through him. Knuckles squeezed his own Power Ring, feeling the presence of Chaos Energy. Their respective Emeralds (Sonic's Dark Blue and Knuckles' Master) only added to it.

The Egg Pawn Giant looked from his attempted smashing of Tails to see Sonic and Knuckles rushing at him. The Egg Pawn was about to bring its hammer down on them when Sonic rushed towards the side, and Knuckles stopped on a dime and raised his hands towards the vertical hammer swing. While the echidna caught the large war hammer's head with relative ease, the force of the attack caused a small crater to form underneath Knuckles. The Egg Pawn Giant was so obsessed with ending the echidna's existence by forcing the hammer down on Knuckles that he didn't notice Sonic beginning to literally run circles around him, forming somewhat of a dark blue tornado.

Eventually, the tornado got so thick and powerful that the Egg Pawn Giant, although he was not lifted off of the ground due to his massive girth, began to lose his balance. When the Egg Pawn Giant was near tipping over, Sonic stopped directly in front of it and jumped. Sonic, with one powerful Homing Attack, knocked the large Egg Pawn onto its back, where the metal it was too heavy for it to get back up, and the hammer it once used was sent airborne. Knuckles jumped up and grabbed the hammer, knowing what to do with it. With one vertical swing, the echidna brought the war hammer down onto the Egg Pawn Giant's upper body, smashing it with one shot.

Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other, grins on their faces. "That was amazing," Lindsey breathed. "You two seemed so in sync."

"I guess we know each other better than we thought," Sonic shrugged before looking up. The Egg Balloon was almost too far up, now. "But enough about that; we gotta get you out of here. Tails!"

"I'm on it," the fox nodded before grabbing Nelson again and Lindsey. "What about you two?"

"We'll find our own ways up!" Sonic answered. "Get moving!" Tails then flew straight upwards, pursuing the Egg Balloon while Sonic and Knuckles ran back through the tunnels that they came, hoping to be able to climb out through the now open area where the Egg Gigas fell through.

* * *

**Yaxchil****á****n Surface- 15:21**

"It's been too long," Sam insisted to the butler. Tanaka looked at the hole as well, but his face remained calm. "Who knows what's going on down there?"

"Trust me," Chuck answered, breaking the silence and drawing attention to himself. "Your sister, nephew, and brother-in-law are all fine. All we can do is wait…" All of the sudden, a blue blur launched itself from the hole, landing right in front of Tanaka, followed by a familiar red blur. Sonic and Knuckles, both exhausted, stood in front of the group.

"You two choose some odd places to be," Sam pointed out to the hedgehog and echidna duo.

"Perhaps we do," Knuckles announced. "Sonic… where's Tails and the scientist?" The hedgehog was about to answer when the Egg Balloon tore open a temple, and escaped unscratched. Robotnik, on the inside, held his light blue Chaos Emerald, and let the chaos begin. Underneath them, the secret base was engulfed in water that suddenly overpowered the walls. Sam, Tanaka, and the film crew blinked at the sight as the Egg Balloon sped off into the distance.

"What the hell did you guys do?" Sam yelled at the two.

"Us?" Sonic answered. "Nothing. The bad guy? He flooded his own base to escape!"

"Where the hell is my family, then?" Knuckles was about to handle when Sonic placed a hand on his mouth.

'_Let me handle this,'_ Chris told Ahaw Kin through his mind. _'As soon as their backs are turned, we make a break for it. I'll return to normal and you catch up with Tails to get back to Flores… we'll talk at the hotel.'_

'_Why?'_ Ahaw Kin questioned.

'_**Nobody outside of our group is allowed to know our secret identities,'**_ Swift answered. _**'And if fate is on our side, it'll stay that way.'**_

Sonic began, "Well, they're all fine. Knuckles rescued the kid, and Tails should have the two adults. I personally got that odd hedgehog Chao out of there… the kid and hedgehog Chao should be around the area."

"Hey, Sam!" Lindsey's voice yelled. Sam and the others looked to see Lindsey and Nelson sitting at the entrance to a temple that wasn't destroyed in the chaos, with Tails flying away. Sam smiled at his sister and brother-in-law. "You missed a hell of a time down there. Giant robots… a madman scientist… Sonic the Hedgehog! It was amazing!"

"Thank god this is over with," Sam sighed to himself. He then remembered Sonic. "Alright, Sonic," the officer scowled without turning to face the hedgehog, "I appreciate you saving my baby sister's family, but even though Guatemala _is_ not in my jurisdiction, you are. So I suggest you come quietly back to Station Square, and I promise your sentence will be light."

"Um, Sam…" Lindsey spoke up. "Sonic's not here, anymore." Confused, Sam turned around to see Sonic and Knuckles were no longer with them; only Sonic's calling card remained. "A shame, too; I have so many unanswered questions about how are the Mobians making a comeback… about why he's in Station Square of all places… about who he really is." Sam groaned.

"Man, he's good at disappearing," the officer announced. None of them (save for Tanaka and Chuck) noticed the dark blue flash of light that came from behind the temple. "But that still leaves the question as to where Chris and Swift are."

"Over here," Chris called. He walked out from behind the temple, popping his neck joints and carrying a semi-exhausted Swift. Lindsey immediately hugged her son.

"You had me worried," she whispered in his ear. Chris just hugged his mom back, careful to avoid crushing Swift, who had a tired swirl over his head.

The hedgehog Chao questioned, "Can we go back to Flores now? I think I've had enough of Guatemala for a while…"

"We probably should suspend filming for the ruins scene for awhile," Springsteen suggested. "Guatemala's government is going to be pissed when they find out what happened to this place…" Soon, the crew packed up and headed back to Flores. What they didn't know that their ride home had two extra passengers on the room… Tails and Knuckles.

* * *

**Flores Airport- 11:03 Local Time**

"I can't believe you're all leaving so soon," Lindsey breathed towards her son and his friends. Immediately after they got back to Flores, Tails made it back to the hotel and returned to normal, Miles and Danny fast asleep on their bed when they got back. Frances and Helen were confused as to when they got back, but shrugged it off. Meanwhile, Spike and Ahaw Kin hid out in the city again until they got the chance to sneak aboard Nelson's private jet like they did the last time- in the cargo hold.

"Mom," Chris stated while letting Swift rest in Tanaka's hands, "after all of this, I think we've all had enough of Guatemala for a while. Also, I do have to go back to school…"

"I understand," his mother smiled, rubbing her son on his head. "Just make sure you keep your grades up… you _are_ the next Thorndyke scientist, after all."

"T-thanks," Chris nervously blushed.

"It was good seeing you, Mrs. Thorndyke," Helen, Frances, Danny, and Amy all politely nodded at their friend's mother, who giggled.

"It was good seeing you all again, too," the actress smiled. "Tell your parents I said hello!"

"We will," Frances promised.

"Tanaka, keep Chris safe."

"As always, Madam Lindsey," Tanaka bowed.

"Guys," Nelson spoke up as he walked over, "we're going to be late! We gotta get you all back to the states."

"Right," Amy smiled. "We better get on the plane."

"Yeah," Chris agreed, looking at his parents kiss goodbye while his friends headed towards the terminal to board the plane. After they broke apart, Chris turned to leave, only for his mother to place her hand on his shoulder, signaling him to wait a moment. "Mom?"

"Don't do anything that's out of league, my son," Lindsey advised him. "I know you're brave and noble, but you have to look out for yourself every once in a while. Nobody would think less of you for it."

"Uh… okay?" Lindsey smiled at her son.

"Have fun at school, okay?" Winking, she added, "Oh, and about Helen… for god's sake, ask her out already!" Chris' cheeks seemed to flame up at that comment. Seeing as she had tormented her son, she let him go, running all of the way to the plane. Lindsey smiled at her son. "I don't know too much about this double life of yours, Chris… but you better take care of yourself."

**

* * *

**

Chuck's Garage- 15:03

"So you're really joining the team?" Miles questioned Ahaw Kin and Spike, the latter of whom was polishing the Master Emerald (in its giant form) while the former sat down. The day after returning to Station Square, Chuck decided it would be in Team Sonic's best interest to check on their one unofficial member- Knuckles. However, to everyone's surprise, Ahaw Kin and Spike kept to Swift's agreement exactly- in exchange for the help in the Master Emerald's recovery, they would join Team Sonic to find the remaining Emeralds.

"This is a necessary but temporary alliance," Ahaw Kin answered. "As long as this Robotnik fellow possesses knowledge of the Chaos Emeralds and the basic knowledge of the Master Emerald, I cannot ignore him as a threat to my lifelong duty."

"Not to mention we want to get even for being played like that," Spike commented, a swirl over his head as to how dirty the Master Emerald got. "The Emeralds are serious business to us Chao who still pay attention to the old ways… look at the Chao part of Sonic." Miles, Karin, Tanaka, Chris, Danny, and Chuck all turned to see Swift staring at his dull Chaos Emerald.

"…I know everyone's thinking it," Swift stated, a swirl over his own head. "You don't have to be a psychic to know that you're all still mad about my rashness two days ago. To be honest, I agree with you- I wasn't thinking straight. Eggman knew I get frustrated easily, and I played right into an obvious trap thinking I'd win. Not only did I get absolutely curb-stomped, but it took all of you to save me from a lapse in judgment."

"Not me," Karin spoke up. "I honestly wasn't there."

"Moving on," Swift stated, "I'll admit I goofed up. I goofed up real bad."

"It wasn't a total loss, Swift," Chris optimistically pointed out. "I mean, you did manage to find out about Robotnik's plot to mass-produce the Chaos Morphers… something we can't allow. And we did get the Master Emerald back, which may turn the tide in our favor."

"Which is why we really need to get to work," Karin smiled. "Now that we have two Emeralds and the Master Emerald, we'll need to do our best to obtain the other four Emeralds before Robotnik and before GUN realizes what we're doing. I'll keep an eye out for any unnatural anomalies caused by the Chaos Emeralds. The faster we can respond to these, the better."

"I also need to get stronger, too," Danny added. Everyone else turned to him. "I mean, Chris' martial arts and shooting help him, and Ahaw Kin has to be strong to be a guardian, so I'm the weak link, here. If I'm going to be more than our wingman, I have to improve my own physical strength."

"You can spar with me," Tanaka suggested, making the pilot shudder.

"Let me correct that last statement," Danny stated. "I have to improve my own physical strength _without_ a suicidal method of training."

"I wouldn't _kill_ you," Tanaka grumbled to himself while the others laughed.

Swift, in a cheerier tone- as his swirl had vanished- smiled, "Well, if we're going after the next Chaos Emeralds, Eggman better be ready! I know we'll be!" The others nodded at this. They would be prepared for the Chaos Emerald hunt… and to take on Robotnik once and for all.

* * *

**Chris:** Hey, Ahaw Kin, can I ask you a question?

**Ahaw Kin:** Sure.

**Chris:** I just remembered I have this strange mark on my shoulder, but nobody knows where it came from.

**Ahaw Kin:** Ah yes… I have it too, except on my back.

**Chris:** So you know what it means?

**Ahaw Kin:** Of course. It marks you as-

**Karin:** Forget about that, guys! Chris, your friend Frances is in trouble!

**Chris:** What kind of trouble? Because if it's a bunch of bullies, she can handle herself….

**Karin:** I wish it was that kind of trouble! But it's worse- Chaos Energy poisoning!

**Swift:** Chaos Energy poisoning? It looks like that's our ally of work!

**Chris:** Swift, where the hell did you come from?

**Swift:** No time for that! We have to get to Frances in the hospital before GUN does!

**Chris:** Next time on _Sonic Chao Chronicles:_ "Chaos Crisis! A Race for the Cure!"

**Swift:** Just try and keep up with me!

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: And I believe that wraps up the second arc of the story. Sorry it took so damn long. And since today is the official release of _Pok__é__mon Black_ and _Pok__é__mon White-_ which I'm going to get in a few hours, by the way- I'd figure I'd spoil you guys, too.

So, next arc is going to focus on Frances and the Chaos Morphers. We're also going to go back to a plot point I almost forgot about- Chris' birthmark. It will be lightly touched on before we're through. Also, GUN makes a comeback. I figured people wanted to see Topaz again- and no, I have not decided whether to make her Rouge or not. I mean, in one sense it makes sense to do it, but on the other hand, it doesn't. She'll be up for debate later. Edge, review time.

Edge's Corner: You bet it is! And now, the lovely Mrs. Lindsey Speed-Thorndyke will be joining me answering your reviews.

Lindsey: Well, it's been a while since I've been on a radio show. Let's see…

**Mattardis by Lindsey:** Indeed- they are one in the same from _Sonic Heroes._ Our writer figured since he already introduced the standard Egg Pawns, he might as well bring in the giants with their large hammers of death. Hard to believe one of these was not made even bigger and made a boss for that game. Anyways, fun fact: before looking up the legitimate name, Kingdom Rider92 was going to name it either the "Egg Knight" or "Egg Warrior". That being said, our writer also humbly admits that he goofed on naming of one of the many Badniks that has been seen so far. Imaginary cookie to the person who guesses which one.

**White Hunter by Edge:** No it was not an easy task. But in the end, Knuckles laid the smack down on that robot. I just wish I had a better hammer pun other than saying "Stop! Knuckles time!"

**Jyn-the-Raccoon by Lindsey:** Being an actress has taught me that a good story always has to balance. I mean, if I can't tell what the hell is going on in a movie that has a lot of action, I know my fans won't. And if you have too much explanation and not enough excitement, your audience will be bored. Springsteen, luckily, can provide both with his storytelling.

**Hanzo of the Salamander by Edge:** I thought we were talking about colds, not immortality, but… you know, I can't say anything or PETA will be on my ass.

**Samswimmer by Edge:** Can I answer this one, Lindsey?

**Lindsey:** Personally, I want to, but it's your show.

**Edge:** Yay! Alright. I'll agree it's a little flawed. I mean, if he does, then they could have beaten the crap out of him. However, they would also be suffering as well. I mean, if the fact that Sonic can't swim doesn't kill him, then you know the water pressure would crush them all, making the threat all the more tempting to listen to.

**Sozic by Lindsey:** Okay, I'll admit right now that I know Chris is Sonic but only because he let it somewhat slip out… I don't want him finding out that I know yet. Luckily, none of you know his personal e-mail address and this radio station doesn't get outside of these pirate radio stations. As for updating… you cannot rush things. I mean, look what happened to _Sonic 06._

**Edge:** Whoa. Let's not mention _that_ on my radio.

**Lindsey:** Sorry… but you know it's the truth. The game was rushed for the holidays, and look how flawed it is.

**Zohaku by Edge:** Ah, yes. You pretty much hit the nail on the head with the whole buying some time thing. Robotnik knew that Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, once given the chance, would focus their rage on him, and in a fair fight against the three would lose… even if Robotnik kicked Tails' ass three episodes ago and just defeated Swift two chapters ago, Sonic and Knuckles together would be a force to reckon with. As for new members, they'll think about it.

**SuperSpeed by Lindsey:** Chris told me Swift is quite the troublemaker. Still, Sonic and his team managed to defeat that giant robot. Anyways, the flashback will happen during this coming story arc… it's just a matter of setting it up.

**sonicxjones by Lindsey:** That's an interesting idea. Kingdom Rider92 admits that he had little idea of who N.I.C.O.L.E. was until you mentioned her and did some digging- he's not 100 percent familiar with certain character continuity. Anyways, this is not the first time he's heard of someone else writing a _Sonic Chao Chronicles_ story- look at Jyn-the-Raccoon. He says he's fine with people writing _Sonic Chao Chronicles_ stories themselves as long as they know to give him credit for the original idea of the series and know that it may not be possible canon the _Chao Chronicles_ universe as he has plans with certain characters.

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: And there you have it. Now, I've noticed that I've hit over 100 reviews. You know what I have to say about it? Thank you! This is the first time where I've written something here that gotten over 100 reviews! I should've done this idea _years_ ago!

Okay, happy time is done. Alright, so you guys know what's up next, right? I don't have to tell you? Okay? Good. And now, happy release of _Pok__é__mon Black & White!_ Kingdom Rider92 out!


	23. Maria's Log, Entry 3

A/N: So, we're about to head into the new arc. But first, I'd just like to let you know Maria has once again updated her little journal. Why don't we take a peek into it?

* * *

_**Personal Diary Log- Entry 3**_

_**Successes, Failures, and Updates**_

"_Well, it's about that time again I record my findings thus far. And I'll have to say, this is full of mixed feelings for me. It feels like being dumped by my ex-boyfriend at Homecoming- rather a bittersweet moment because I knew he was only interested in my body but he dumped me because of my family ties… the jerk._

"…_I'm sorry. That was just ramblings of a teenage girl. It's rather irrelevant to a study journal. Anyways, here's what I have to report. First, and foremost of my disappointments: my parents found out about what happened in Guatemala. Sightings of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were recorded throughout the country, having to do with a movie shoot. However, the rumored sightings of an airship with my uncle's insignia on the side are going to prevent me from even stepping near the Mayan Empire for a while. Considering how the hieroglyphics I was studying originate there, this is going to greatly hinder my research should there be more to the inscription. Hinder… but not completely stop. I have no choice but to put it on the side for now… just when I was getting into it._

"_Another failure on my part was my escapades in Russia. In hindsight, being the great granddaughter of a German scientist that when insane and single-handedly caused one of the greatest disasters in both Soviet and American science history was something I should have considered when I was in Russia. I should've known old grudges die hard- a lot of Soviet scientists died because of the ARK. I should've doubted the Robotniks would be tolerated in the country. I barely got out of there with my life during my brief stay._

"_Speaking of which, in my last entry, I did say I was going after a dual element Chaos Emerald- the yellow Emerald of Lightning and Fire. Well, the good news is I found it in Russia's capital city of Moscow after doing a lot of digging. The bad news is I was briefly detained under the accusation of being an American spy with my father. Luckily, my mother knew enough Russian to talk us out of being executed and got us deported. However, I made sure to steal back the Chaos Emerald they confiscated from me to study it. The long story short, I'm not allowed back in Russia. Sure, I just made enemies with the Russian government, but I cannot afford to let anyone in such a position of power have the Chaos Emeralds without doing anything about it._

"_On my way back to America, though, I found out a somewhat decent lead which will make up for the amount of lost time I'm going to suffer thanks to my uncle. During the in-flight movie, I noticed the latest trailer for the next _Ruin Raider_ movie… it had something to do with the Amulet of Tikal. While the trailer itself brought up some serious hype, it also reminded me of what I learned about Chaos and the Echidna princess. That amulet- the necklace- is the sole remnant of Tikal left on the planet. The real thing is in London's prized Museum of Natural History. If I could get my hands on that thing, I could be that much closer to solving the inscription that controls the Master Emerald… or at least more of the prophecy. However, there would be no way that the British would give up an artifact of that value to just _anyone…_ especially not to a Robotnik._

"_Besides, my brain is on more pressing matters. My father lost the Chaos Emerald I tried so hard to get. He was robbed by a cloaked guy, and now the Emerald is who knows where. I'm trying not to blow up in father's face about it, but I can't believe he let his guard down with it when he said if I carried it around, I'd be an easy target. My biggest lead is gone thanks to a minor lapse in judgment on my father's part… I don't know if I'm ever going to get another break about it._

"_It's taking all that I have to ignore it… I'm attempting to busy myself with other work. The Chaos Morpher blueprints, for example. Thanks to the Chao that was responsible for solving equations my great grandfather never did, I can actually attempt to build it. I have already ordered the components necessary to complete it… except for two key things. Firstly, a Chaos Emerald to supply the battery for it… that my father lost. Ugh… I really should move on. The more I think about it, the more frustrating it is. I need to consider acquiring an alternate source of Chaos Energy-based fuel… some sort of battery. I plan to manufacture a battery that uses Chaos Energy, like my great-grandfather planned to do but never got around doing. Since Chaos Energy can be harnessed and even crystallized according to my great-grandfather's notes- which possibly explain how the Chaos Emeralds were formed- I could use this to create a mock power source for my Morpher. I need to do more research before confirming or denying this hypothesis, but it's at least something that replaces my lost Emerald._

"_Second, but perhaps the more necessary and embarrassing… I don't have a Chao. Kind of sad that I'm a teenage girl who has dedicated most of her life studying Chao and their relationship to the Chaos Emeralds, yet I don't have a Chao of my own. However, in order to study the true effects of the Chaos Morpher without spending countless hours of watching reruns of Sonic's battles against GUN and my uncle, I need a Chao to use the Morpher with. However, it cannot be just any Chao in particular. According to my great-grandfather's notes, if I use myself as the Chaos Morpher test subject, I would need a Chao with an equivalent amount of Chaos Energy as myself. And unfortunately for me… that's a lot of Chaos Energy._

"_The other day, I had my blood work tested. According to the results, not only do I unique blood type, but I have at least 80 percent Chaos Energy above the average human. It's going to be difficult finding a Chao of that caliber. Though it makes me wonder… with all of the Chaos Energy around the planet thanks to the Chao species' arrival, what if there was a being who _didn't_ have Chaos Energy? Would they be able to handle the direct contact with a real Emerald? And I'm not talking about seeing it or standing around it… I'm talking about actual, physical contact._

"_The possibilities could be catastrophic… the person could end up dying from the direct exposure to the radiation. I should know- I've actually seen reports of Chaos Energy radiation based deaths, which is precisely the reason why the use of Chaos Energy to replace other forms of fuel is constantly debated. Trust me when I say they're not pretty… I had to resist throwing up when I saw a body that was desecrated by Chaos Energy. In person, I might add. Oh, did I mention that with the Chaos Emerald I had, I had to quite literally pry it from a man's cold, dead hands despite the burn wounds that came with messing with that specific Chaos Emerald? And worse, I actually had to peel some of the dead skin from the Emerald _and_ lost a good shirt to blood seeping out of the wounds onto it? It was so gross, but worth it to prevent something like that happening again._

"_Only _now_ it can happen again. Moving along before I frustrate myself, what could happen if somebody without much Chaos Energy comes into direct contact with a Chaos Emerald? That is just another mystery. However, it is a mystery that a studier of the Emeralds such as myself has to explore… as gruesome as the results may be._

"_I feel awful ending this update on such a sour note. But being a scientist, a teenager, the niece of public enemy number one, and the great-granddaughter of the man responsible for one of the most tragic events in the history of attempted peace between America and Russia has its ups and downs. But then again, if I don't try to make amends in any way possible for my family's sins… nobody will._

"_I will report back after doing some more examinations on the dead man's DNA… and focusing on getting the Morpher done. Chances are I'll probably risk killing myself with all of these trials. I probably should have someone on fire duty in case something starts burning. Even though it's an experiment series that I must do to further my research, this is going to suck."_

_**End Personal Log of Maria Robotnik II**_

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, I know. This chapter's short. But to make up for it, the next arc will be 4-5 episodes long. And considering how I make the episodes 2-3 parts, that's about 8-15 chapters for this next arc! That's more than enough action to make up for this short chapter!

Oh, before I let Edge do his review show, let me announce that I have a new poll on my Author Page! You know how I have these Maria journals? Should I make a spin-off story based off of the misadventures of Maria, make a small story arc with her as the central character in _Chaotic Adventures_ (the sequel to this book), or not at all? You decide! Edge, you may now do your reviews.

Edge's Corner: With pleasure!

**Hanzo of the Salamander:** Yeah, but if they found out about this radio show and our strange monkey conversation, enough hate mail directed towards Kingdom Rider92 could get us all shut down! And I happen to like being a radio pirate! By the way, the Pirates of Arcadia are recruiting, if you're interested.

**Jyn-the-Raccoon:** True… it was short. However, we were wrapping up things. And then again, this is also short. Yep… we get to begin to discover what's up with Frances and the birthmark. As for the whole Topaz as Rouge debate, we're still working on it. We won't say anything else until we have come up with an answer.

**White Hunter:** So far, she's the only one in story. When I'm introduced, I'll know… I have "comic awareness", which allows me to break the forth wall and do these radio shows. I'm like Deadpool but cuddlier, aren't I? As for anyone else, I'm not sure.

**Samswimmer:** I'm sorry I stole the review. I wanted to answer it. Anyways, Lindsey will be on the show again, but much later. I'll give you a hint as to which robot we've misnamed: it appeared in Episodes 1 and 7. But how could you forget about the mom equivalent to Swift and Miles? Karin fixes their boo-boos!

**Sozic:** Yep… we got to it. However, you made be confused and disappointed with what we have in store for you.

**Negima Uzumaki:** First of all, great name. I love _Negima_ and _Naruto!_ Personal favorite characters in each are Ku Fei and Hinata Hyuga, respectively. Me getting away from my pervy harem show love and love of badass ninjas, I see everyone has their own tastes. However, in _Chao Chronicles,_ Chris is more of a direct hero than his previous incarnation. In the original _Sonic X,_ he worked with Sonic and was the hedgehog's best _human_ friend. In _Chao Chronicles…_ he _is_ Sonic.

Okay, that's everything. Kingdom Rider92, take us home!

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Gladly. So, once again, everyone, there's a poll on my Author's page. Vote for your choice, and get ready for chaos. Kingdom Rider92, out!


	24. Episode 9, Part 1

A/N: And now for something completely _Chao Chronicles-_related.

* * *

**Chuck's Garage- 15:09**

Swift. Spike. Ahaw Kin. Chuck. Miles. All were looking at one another, waiting for the final moment. Soon, the last card was placed on the table- the Ace of Spades. Ahaw Kin cheered in excitement as he showed his cards. "Read them and weep, gentlemen- royal flush!" Spike scowled as he placed his three of a kind down, Swift placed his straight flush down, and Chuck and Miles their two pair.

"Whose idea was it to teach Ahaw Kin to play Texas Hold'em?" Miles questioned with a swirl over his head as the native dragged the pot towards himself. It had been a week since the incident in Maya. For safety purposes, Team Sonic laid low for a while at the insistence of Ella and Karin, the former worried for Chris' health and the latter saying that she needed the silence and ceasefire to find any anomalies that could be Chaos energy oriented. Suffice to say, Swift and Spike had gotten bored quickly with waiting.

"Dr. Naka," Swift yawned, a question mark over his head. "Have you found anything _yet? _I'm out of Chao Fruit rations thanks to this!"

"Swift," Karin, who was wearing a plain white sleeveless shirt and green miniskirt, said in an annoyed tone while sitting on the couch, "I told you three hours ago, just like every day, there hasn't been any reports in international news of supernatural phenomena that could only be explained by the Chaos Emeralds being involved. As a matter of fact, I barely even know what the hell I'm looking for! You, Ahaw Kin, and Itzamal-"

"Don't call me that!" Spike yelled with a swirl of annoyance over head at the use of his real name.

Ignoring the outburst, Karin continued, "-have yet to tell me how to know what is a Chaos Emerald-based anomaly and what is just natural. How do you tell? What can the Chaos Emeralds do separately that I should look out for?" Swift's question mark returned to a normal dot.

"Well," the hedgehog Chao thought to himself aloud, "that's simple yet hard to explain for me… I mean, I know I have the Dark Blue Emerald that controls wind, Eggman has the Light Blue Emerald for water. Other than that, I barely know what the other Emeralds can do by themselves."

"I do," Spike stated. "All guardian Chao are taught the elements of the Chaos Emeralds. The Green Emerald is earth-based in terms of its powers. Seeing as we have it, it's not our problem, but it is rumored its misuse once shattered the supercontinent of Pangaea with massive earthquakes." Karin stared at the echidna Chao in shock. Spike, with a heart over his head, laughed, "I'm kidding! It would take a being of about as equal as Chaos himself to cause that much damage with only one Emerald, and not too many humans or Chao these days can live with that amount of Chaos Energy. Consider that joke payback for using my real name."

"Oh give me a heart attack that someone once nearly destroyed the world with one Emerald just because I used your given name as retaliation that since you guys got bored and weren't didn't tell me what to look for, I'm a little pissed that I've been forced to take shots in the dark for the past week!"

"So we're somewhat even," Spike shrugged. "Anyways, doctor, the only four Emeralds unaccounted for are the White, Yellow, Red, and Purple ones… the true troublemakers."

"Why?" Miles asked. With a question mark above his head, he questioned, "What could these four do by themselves?"

"Drive mass populations insane, cause flash fires, massive power outages, and extreme thunderstorms, give people superhuman strength and lust for violence, and absolute extinction of cities, maybe bringing back the dead and the damned as well… respectively." Everyone in the room but Ahaw Kin looked at the echidna Chao like he was insane (both Swift and Miles having exclamation points over their heads). "…What?" Spike asked as if what he just said was common knowledge.

"Why did Chaos bring these things to Earth, again?" Chuck questioned.

"Because if he didn't," Swift offered, "humanity wouldn't have their cuddly Chao who need Chaos Energy to survive? Consequently, now, so do humans. If it wasn't for Chaos Energy, the planet would be pretty barren."

"How can you say that for sure, Swift?" Chris stated as he came into the house, surprising everyone. "I mean, if what you said about not being able to see Frances' levels is true, then what's to say she isn't an exception to the rule?" Swift then realized why he bothered recruiting Ahaw Kin and Spike- Frances Burns. The black sheep to his logic.

Truth be told, Swift learned as a hatchling that every living thing in the world has to have some sort of Chaos Energy in it. Hell, it was even learned that there was Chaos Energy in the massive void of space- that's why the _Chao in Space_ movies made so much sense! However, when he met with Frances, Swift got a blank. But how? All beings had Chaos Energy, right? Well, if he couldn't get a reading, then could Frances… no. That didn't make any sense. It _couldn't_ make any sense.

"Maybe she has some sort of anti-Chaos Sense thing that blocks me out," Swift suggested. "I'll have to look into it even harder than I did last time."

"I feel as though this is going to end badly," Tanaka added his two cents, coming into the room as well. "Master Chris, where is Master Daniel?"

"Studying some martial arts with Frances," Chris answered. "Anyways, guys… if we can't find anything, let's hope Robotnik doesn't have better luck. We could use the peace."

"Just wish there was something we could do," Swift muttered with a swirl over his head. "I mean, don't most superheroes in comic books go on a patrol every once in a while?"

"We'll do that when there's a spotlight in the shape of Sonic's calling card shining in the night sky," Chris retorted. While Swift rolled his eyes, Ahaw Kin blinked in confusion.

"…What's a spotlight?"

* * *

**Episode 9: Chaos Crisis! A Race for the Cure!**

* * *

**Station Square- 16:06**

"So," Danny, wearing a black t-shirt underneath a white gi, honestly asked Frances as he popped his shoulder back into place from where someone (Frances) kicked it. "How did I do, today?"

"Well," the freckled girl, also wearing a gi over her violet shirt and a gray phanny pack around her waist, announced, "there's a _lot_ of room for improvement. However, you're somewhat better than you were when you first started practicing." After another lesson in martial arts, Danny and Frances were just waiting for the latter's parents to pick them up and head home. And Frances, to kill time, liked to walk around downtown, knowing where her parents were going to pick her up- in front of the arcade.

"Well, it's a start," the young pilot commented. "That's at least _something…"_

"Actually, if you want me to be critical," Frances began to list, "you blocked my left open palm too early, not paying attention to my footwork. If I wanted to kill you, I would have aimed for your face with my kick, not your shoulder."

"Why my face?" Danny questioned, concerned that Frances supposedly could have ended him today.

"Danny," Frances yawned, "I kicked you in the shoulder hard enough to pop it out of socket… and you know I don't really have to try to kick your ass when I'm mad. If I was completely serious about fighting you, I would have kicked your nose hard enough that I jammed it into that big brain of yours." Danny realized how right she was about that statement- Frances, despite her cheery demeanor and her cute face (only highlighted by the freckles), was a huge threat to somebody's health in a fistfight. That's why nobody in the school bothered to mess with their mutual friend Helen for her handicapped position whenever Frances or Chris were around.

A lot of kids knew what Chris was capable of even without Tanaka's help- and Tanaka has beaten the dog crap out of _armed_ grown men just for looking at Chris the wrong way. To make matters worse for those bullies, Tanaka, at an early age, began teaching the young heir self-defense in the form of karate and a brief overview of samurai style swordplay- which explains how Chris Thorndyke single-handedly at the sensitive age of three stuffed a whole kid into a washing machine. Danny had seen Chris' combat skills grow over the years- they really showed whenever he was Sonic.

However, there was only one other person that Danny knew very well (besides Ahaw Kin) that could match Chris in that kind of skill- Frances Burns. Frances, of the group, was the plain one… which only belied how dangerous she was. Frances had trained from an equally early age in quite a few forms martial arts, her favorite being northern Shaolin kung fu. Back about a year ago, there was a gang of bullies who terrorized the incoming freshmen of Station Square. Chris and Danny, who were on their 13th plane back then, were left alone, as Chris' fighting skills were already the talk of the school system… as was Tanaka. They left Danny alone as they secretly feared that Chris and Tanaka would one day force them to be the test dummies in one of Danny's famous planes. However, they chose Helen… which was _still_ a bad choice. For right as Chris was about to intervene, Frances shows up. Two of the members dropped out to get as far away from the redhead as possible… the others just disbanded and left kids alone. Though many praised Frances, they also feared her wrath.

Some guys would say that getting your ass kicked by a girl is an insult to your masculinity. However, if said girl in question knows four forms of martial arts plus was a hell of a street fighter if the situation calls for it and had a very short temper… then yeah, you were hosed before the fight even started.

"In fact," Frances spoke up, making Danny snap back into reality, "there were at least five times in our spar where, if I was a real threat to you, we wouldn't be having this discussion. There were also six moments in that spar where you could have at least made it even."

"Ugh," Danny groaned. "I _really_ need to improve if that's what you have to say…" He then took a drink from his water bottle.

"Maybe we should talk about a different subject rather than me beating the crap out of you," Frances suggested. Looking up at a billboard, the freckled girl spotted a blown up wanted poster of Sonic the Hedgehog. "Danny, have you wondered what Sonic is really up to?" This resulted in the pilot spewing up his water, coughing at the question.

"W-what are you talking about, Frances?" Danny laughed off. The girl placed her hand on her hips. "Why the hell would I want to know about Sonic…?"

"Don't play dumb," the girl accused, looking at her friend with a smart smile. "We were all in Guatemala last week, unless my jetlag made me hallucinate about it. We all know that Sonic and his friends made the news… even though it was completely in Spanish on every channel and I had to spend five minutes begging Ella to translate them. Don't tell me for a _second_ you aren't curious about where he came from, who he really is, what he's really doing, and why."

"Okay, why are you bringing this up?"

"Talking with Chris' mom and uncle made me realize there is something strange about Sonic and his team," the redhead explained, looking. Danny's eyes grew wide- did Frances know about them? "I know they're here to help, but there's more to that than I thought. Whatever they're doing, it must be something big…."

"How do you know that for sure?" Danny cautiously questioned. Frances smiled.

"They wouldn't be going up against a psycho like Robotnik all of the time if it wasn't something huge," Frances stated. "Something nobody knows about but those involved in the conflict. It could change the world, and yet the police and even GUN are hunting them down like dogs."

"They are giving Team Sonic a rough time, aren't they?" Danny agreed.

"Sure it's partially justified by the fact that Sonic is an unknown factor, a vigilante crime fighter, and the first Mobian to walk the Earth since prehistory times," Frances pointed out. "He can't be trusted by officials 100 percent, as those who trust too soon could risk a lot of face. However, I know since he's saved Helen twice and has stopped other disasters, he's not here to destroy us."

"Yeah," Danny nodded. All of a sudden, a large man in a brown trench coat rushed by, bumping into Frances and Danny. "Hey!"

"Watch where you're going, asshole!" Frances called after him. The girl rolled her eyes, and reached for her side… only to realize her phanny pack was gone. Danny looked at his wrist, and noticed the orange Chaos Morpher was gone as well. "Son of a bitch!" Frances called, running after the retreating trench coat man. Danny, realizing that the man stole both Frances phanny pack and his Morpher (the latter of which was more important to him), aiding Frances in her pursuit.

While Frances was could easily keep up with the target (as running after a thief was easy when compared to martial arts class), she noticed two things off about this chase. One, Danny- while he was not on her level of athletics, he was pretty close now. It was as if he's been training in basic parkour for a while, now- he could improve, though. As for thing number two, the movements of the thief seemed a little… off. It was as if the thief was floating rather than running. In fact, she couldn't hear his footsteps, even as she closed the gap.

Not that it mattered, though… she wanted to get her phanny pack back. "Give that back, you bastard!" She then leapt at the thief, grabbing his coat before falling to the ground, coat and all. Danny, concerned for his friend, stopped running to help her up. When the two looked up, they saw the Morpher, coat, and phanny pack on the ground… but the coat's owner was gone.

"What the hell?" Danny questioned as he strapped the Chaos Morpher back onto his wrist, surprised that the thief could disappear like that (and steal the Morpher easily). Danny looked at the coat dropped by the thief, and noticed a bulge with a faint yellow light while Frances focused on reattaching her phanny back. Curious, Danny pulled out his cell phone, calling a specific number.

* * *

**Chuck's Garage- 16:09**

"So," Chris spoke up, breaking the long silence for the group, "Ahaw Kin… can I ask you something?"

"What is it, Sonic?" Ahaw Kin questioned. Chris rolled his eyes.

"This being a habit we're going to have to break aside, I want to know something." Rolling up his sleeve, Chris showed Ahaw Kin and Spike the birthmark. "Have you ever seen a mark like this?" The others in the room noticed the birthmark of the Emeralds on Chris' left shoulder. While everyone else in the room was curious about it, Ahaw Kin and Spike just looked at each other, a bored look on their faces.

"So he's been branded by Chaos, too, huh?" Spike questioned as if it was not a big deal. Ahaw Kin nodded in a casual manner.

"What do you mean, 'too'?" Chuck questioned. "You guys have seen it before?" The next thing anybody knew, Ahaw Kin took off his shirt and showed the group his back- on the right shoulder blade was the exact same symbol.

"I have had this for as long as I can remember," Ahaw Kin replied. "It seems that I was right to ally myself with you, Sonic… we both share the Brand of Chaos."

"What does it mean for us, Ahaw Kin?" Chris questioned, not bothering to correct the guardian this time.

"It means we have been chosen by Chaos himself," Ahaw Kin replied. "Whether it is for good or bad, we are bonded to the Chaos Emeralds until the day that we die." The others blinked at the casual attitude Ahaw Kin had as he placed his shirt back on. "There are eight humans on Earth marked by Chaos each generation, each representing an Emerald… I no doubt represent either the Master or the Emerald of Power, and you may represent the Emerald of Wind. Still, whoever truly controls both the Emeralds and those branded by Chaos will have no problem controlling the world, so Sonic, you and I must not allow the Chaos Emeralds to fall into misguided hands." As Chris let this insight of knowledge by Knuckles sink in, his cell phone went off, causing everybody to jump, Ahaw Kin and Spike especially.

Pulling out his phone, Chris noticed Spike's initial reaction- growing his claws while Ahaw Kin, who was still getting used to technology, stared in shock. "Don't worry," Tanaka told Spike and Ahaw Kin. "I got Master Chris that phone… must be important.

Chris decided to do everyone a favor and answer the phone. "Hello?"

"_Chris, it's Danny,"_ the pilot's voice whispered, which Chris did not find odd- he was used to Danny talking silently on phones. Danny, whenever he was onto a big idea that he wanted Chris in on but the two weren't in the same place, would try to get him over in as discrete of a way as physically possible. Chris did not really know if this came off as a sort of paranoia that someone was out there trying to steal his ideas or if Danny was often involved in an emergency. _"Listen to me… I need you and Swift to come downtown right now… I think I might have stumbled on something huge."_

"Can't you tell me over the phone for once?" Chris questioned.

"_This time, I really can't. Just come to the arcade, and I'll meet you there."_

"Why not?"

"_Hey Danny,"_ Frances' voice questioned, _"what's with the new watch?"_ Danny let out a surprised gasp before hanging up the phone.

"…Oh," Chris realized. Frances was with him… and it must've been a Sonic-related thing, and he didn't want her finding out. And unfortunately, she just did.

"Are we going at Sonic-speed?" Swift asked, a heart over his head- finally, something to bust his boredom.

"Oh sure," Tanaka stated, sarcasm dripping off every word. "Since this is so important, not only are you going to draw attention to yourselves by running through a town where Sonic is the most-wanted criminal, and then show up to reveal to Frances that your best friend Danny knows who exactly Sonic is… Swift, how smart is that?" However, Swift didn't respond. Everyone noticed the small dust cloud that led outside.

"You know," Miles remarked as he pushed off the couch, "considering how he can't sit still to save his life, we should have seen this coming."

* * *

**Downtown- 16:12**

"Seriously," Frances questioned, looking at Danny's Morpher, "that's one fancy watch. Where did you get it?" Danny looked at the Morpher, concerned with how he was going to get out of this one.

"Um… I built it," Danny lied. Truth be told, Miles built it, but was teaching him how to build Morphers- during the past week, any of Danny's free time between school-related activities, training with Frances, and chores was spent working on Ahaw Kin's new Morpher- they had to get rid of the Robotnik one soon. Still, Frances would never believe that a small fox Chao with twin tails could build such a high-tech device… and Danny has built far more complex-looking devices than a watch, so it works.

"Okay," Frances stated. Looking closer, she questioned, "But why doesn't it tell time?"

'_Oh hell!'_ Danny thought in a nervous sweat. "Um… I haven't adjusted it so it tells time yet?" he offered. The girl shrugged- Danny had forgotten vital things before. She bitterly remembered plane number 8- he forgot to install the landing gear, and crashed into her garage. If Chris hadn't paid for it, Danny would not have kept his arms… or his unmentionables.

"Typical Danny," the freckled girl shrugged. Looking around, she questioned, "Where the hell did that thief go, though?"

"That's not important, Frances," Danny insisted. He decided to change the subject. "Your parents might already be at the arcade, and we have our stuff. Go on ahead… I'll catch up in a minute."

"Actually," Frances corrected after fishing out her surprisingly in-tact cell phone from her phanny pack, "if your watch could tell time, then you'd know that it's 4:15 in the afternoon on Friday- my parents don't get here before 4:30. We've got fifteen minutes to kill-" She then stopped in mid-sentence, a look of shock plastered on her face. That shock soon turned into a devious grin as she returned her phone to the bag. "Daniel Prower," Frances accused, "you're hiding something from me."

"W-w-what?" Danny gasped in surprise. "What makes you think I'm hiding something from you by insisting you go ahead?"

"The fact that you just admitted it," Frances said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Man, for a super-genius, Danny, you are a _terrible_ liar when it comes to secrets." Danny smacked himself on the head- why did Frances have to be able to see through him? However, this annoyance turned back into surprise when Frances grabbed his right arm with one hand, twisted it behind his back, interlocked his left leg with her own, and with her remaining arm pulled Danny into a sleeper hold from behind. "Another quick thing," Frances stated. "Don't let your guard down... it's easy to get caught in. Now, Danny, I'm only going to ask this once- what the hell is going on."

"I promise not to tell," Danny answered.

"Danny," Frances warned, "I'm capable of breaking your neck, breaking your arm, or at the very least, knocking you out due to a lack of oxygen. I'm more patient than I used to be, but if that watch and you wanting me gone are related to some big secret that I should know about, I suggest you spill… now."

"Frances," Danny stated, trying to breathe, "this… doesn't involve… you. Just… trust… me."

"Like hell it doesn't involve me!" the freckled girl shot back. "Now that I think about it, Chris has been secretive, too! Is he in on it as well? Because if he is, I want in, too!" The pilot groaned- no matter what he said, he'd be betraying one of his closest friends. And unfortunately for him, both could kick his ass to Los Angeles and back. It's just a matter of _who_ would show more restraint. However, a blue blur rushed into the alley, making Frances let go.

"What's going on, here?" Swift asked Frances as he walked in, a question mark above his head. Frances let go of Danny, letting him breathe.

"Alright, Swift," the redhead scowled, "ever since you and Miles showed up, strange crap has happened around you! I just want to know what's going on, here… and I think Danny and Chris are in on it." The Chao's question mark returned to normal.

"Calm down, Frances," the hedgehog Chao smiled, walking past her. "All will be explained soon."

"Swift…!" Danny hissed, but the Chao raised a hand.

"Danny," Swift scowled, a swirl over his head, "let's be honest; Frances was going to find out about us. I'm glad I was here to tell her. But what's your emergency?" Danny blinked- Swift was going to reveal it? Well, he _did_ want her on the team before Ahaw Kin and Spike… so he shouldn't be as surprised.

"It's in the coat," the pilot sighed.

Glad someone was seeing things his way, Swift turned to the coat jacket, and noticed his Chaos Sense going off the charts. "Oh Chaos… that's an Emerald. Definitely a stronger reading than mine!"

"Guys?" Frances questioned. "What the hell are you two talking about?"

"Frances," Danny scowled as Swift shook off the overstimulation caused by the Emerald's power, "what I'm about to tell you will not only freak you out, but you have to keep it secret…" Swift reached into the coat pocket, and pulled out a yellow colored jewel. "Yes. Chris, Swift, and I are all part of a secret organization."

"I knew it!" Frances grinned. However, that grin faded just as quickly as it came, being replaced with a hurt look of confusion. "So why didn't you tell me… you guys thought you couldn't trust me?"

"Oh trust me," Swift smiled while holding the yellow gem. "You'd be my first pick for the team with your skill. However, I can't get much of a reading with my sense." Walking back to the two, Swift smiled, "We'll talk about the team soon enough. But now, we have three Emeralds- saving the world just got easier!" This part actually caused Frances to freak out a bit.

"…Saving the world?"

"Yep," the hedgehog Chao grinned, a heart over his head as the three walked out of the alley. Frances then picked the Chao up from behind with one hand, snapping him back into reality and making the heart fade. "…What?"

"What the hell do you two mean by saving the world?" the redhead questioned as she brought Swift to face her. Looking at the Emerald, she added, "And how the hell are these things supposed to help with that?" She then reached for the Emerald in Swift's stubby hands-

And that was when the Emerald reacted. What happened next, not even Swift, who is practically an expert at the Chaos Emeralds, could predict what would happen. Swift and Danny were blown into the streets by what appeared to be a huge shockwave that shattered the windows around them, flipped over any parked cars nearby, and damaged buildings. Both sat up with Danny's hair puffed out into an afro (A/N: humor out of a dark situation… yeah, bad timing) and Swift's quills all sticking straight up, both crackling with electricity. Swift, however, noticed the burn marks on his vest.

"Chris is going to kill me," the Chao breathed, an exclamation mark above his head. "This vest wasn't cheap…."

"I think money is going to be the _least_ of our concerns," Danny voiced as he looked at the scene around him. This part of downtown was badly scarred by the explosion of energy released by the Emerald. While it didn't look _anything _near the ground zero of the beginning of _inFAMOUS_ when the Ray Sphere activated and wiped out thousands of people, Danny had to admit things looked pretty bad. The whole block looked totaled- cars were wrecked, some debris had blocked the entrances to buildings, two fires had started, and the arcade now had a car driven through its front.

"…Oh Chaos," Swift gasped in horror, looking at the scene. However, a scream of agony tore the two's attention away from the destruction that happened and looked towards Frances, who was still holding the Chaos Emerald. However, things weren't looking so good as the Emerald was unleashing energy at close range to her, electricity and flames threatening to engulf her. Swift remembered Spike describing the Yellow Emerald as one of the troublemakers of the Chaos Emeralds. Could it be so powerful that it could kill humans just by contact? Or was there more to it? "Frances…?"

"What the hell is going on, here?" Chris' voice spoke up as he ran over to the group. Swift, with a nervous swirl over his head, pointed at Frances with the Emerald.

"Okay, let's set the record straight before we go Sonic," Swift announced. "I have _nothing _to do with why the Emerald's killing her. In fact, I'm stumped!"

"Well, let's get the Emerald _away_ from her!" Chris scowled, activating his Morpher. **"Chaos Soul, Activate!"**

Frances, meanwhile, was in so much pain. She didn't expect touching that stupid little gem Swift got from the thief's coat to cause this mind-numbing pain. Now, here she was, practically on fire and being tortured with God knows how much electricity pumping into her body. With that much power inflicted on her, she could only wish for the sweet embrace of death. However, the next thing she knew, the pain had stopped, and she had collapsed onto the ground, barely breathing. Every sight was practically a blur.

"That was too close," Sonic's voice spoke up. Once her vision returned, she turned her gaze to see Sonic holding the offending gemstone before pocketing it. The hedgehog knelt down to place his hand on her head, and closed his eyes. Frances placed a bleeding hand- cut open by the power surge- on the hedgehog's shirt.

What happened next, Frances wasn't quite sure. She didn't know if it was her thoughts or someone else's, but she swore she heard two voices in her head. Both of which seemed familiar. _'Wow… she looks terrible. Burn marks and electricity. Not to mention the fever she has… and the cuts on her hands just bled on my shirt.'_

'_**Other than the **_**obvious****crap,**_** is she going to be okay?'**_

'_Barely… in fact, it's a miracle and a half that she's even alive with these wounds. What happened?'_

'_**I wanna say an explosion of Chaos Energy when she touched the Emerald?'**_

'_That explains a bit… but she just touched the Emerald and a block and a half are totaled?'_

'_**Eggman was right… certain Emeralds are stronger than each other.'**_ Frances was now left confused. Did this voice say 'Eggman', the guy who kidnapped Helen to get Sonic to come to him? Helen said that Eggman was really Dr. Robotnik. If the voice knew that, then did the owner of voice- as much as she didn't want to conclude it to be, but it could only be Sonic- really work for Eggman?

'_What's wrong?'_ the first voice asked, surprised.

'…_**All of that energy pumped into her and I'm even up close, and I can't get a positive reading for normal Chaos Energy,'**_ the second voice answered. _**'It's like… no. I do not believe this. I **_**refuse**_** to accept this.'**_

'…_So that's why you can't get a reading,'_ the first voice realized. _'She doesn't have _any_ normal Chaos Energy… just what she just absorbed from a direct source.'_ Frances was barely able to understand that. What did he mean?

'_**I want a second opinion. Hell, a third.'**_

'_You have the best Sense I've seen besides Spike and Ahaw Kin- you can't deny it.'_ Ahaw Kin and Spike- who were these guys? More members of Sonic's little group?

'_**Even if they confirm it,'**_ the second voice stubbornly announced, _**'I want to be absolutely sure. Besides, we're at essentially ground zero of an explosion of energy. I'm pretty sure we should grab Danny and get the hell out of here before the police and ambulances show up.'**_ So, Sonic personally knew Danny and Chris. Frances realized that the pain was still there. It was hard to keep conscious, but she had to- she needed to know more.

'_Danny's already taken care of,'_ the first voice answered. _'But I'll admit, we should leave- the police don't like us.'_ The next thing Frances knew, Sonic removed his hand from her head, and picked her up bridal style. Frances watched as Sonic grabbed a calling card, and placed it in front of the arcade.

"Hang on," he whispered as she began to finally drift off. "We'll see what we can do."

* * *

**Human Card:** Francine "Frances" Burns

**Occupation:** High school student, martial arts instructor

**Known Family:** Duncan (foster father), Chloe (foster mother)

**Hobbies:** Martial Arts, painting, detective work (picking up)

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: I know, sad chapter with sadder cliffhanger. Trust me, G.U.N. will show up in Part 2, further complicating things. Also, right now, the Emerald scored just changed.

Sonic Team Sonic: 3

Robotnik: 1

GUN: Still hasn't caught on, yet!

Mysterious Thief: 0

Okay, between this chapter and next, I'm gonna give you a chance to guess who our thief was. Whoever guesses right wins an internet. On that note, time for Edge to do his review thing.

Edge's Corner: With pleasure! Now, joining me in the booth is a Mr. Edward Tanaka.

Tanaka: That is correct, Mr. Edge. Now, first review….

**Hanzo of the Salamander by Edge:** Well, you know how to sign up for the Pirates of Arcadia! Just go to Kingdom Rider92's page, look at the sign-up sheet, fill all three parts out, and apply for us! We'll save the world! And bring down PETA! Just like _Epic Meal Time!_

**Samswimmer by Tanaka:** Well, in her defense, her father was the one who got robbed when she trusted him to watch the Emerald. And considering what it just did to downtown, I'm just glad the damage caused by the Emerald was limited. We got there just in time to prevent both the city _and _Frances from suffering similar fates as those in Moscow. Speaking of which, I believe that our author did that specifically to set up this arc. And yes- that's the correct answer. The Egg Pawn Elites are actually named "Egg Knights". However, we're too far in right now to change the name- we'll do so in season 2.

**Jyn-the-Raccoon by Edge:** Alright, about Maria's Log- she's kind of a way to transition between story arcs. When Kingdom Rider92 says we're done with an arc, she shows up with some research that conveniently transitions into the next arc. She'll also be the first and last chapter of each season. That's kind of her update schedule. Anyways, we all know she's going to get a Chao to use- we're not saying anything else right now. And yes- we're incorporating the Chaos Drives from SA2! Truth be told, the Chaos Drives _are_ crystallized Chaos Energy. Not as powerful or long-lasting as a Chaos Emerald, but lasts long enough as a power source, can upgrade Chao, and is a lot more stable and predictable.

**Sozic by Tanaka:** Our author doesn't have a real update schedule. It's when he's in the mood. And… no. _HELL NO._ Master Chris, as the heir to the Thorndyke name, is not allowed to have any scandalous actions slander his name. And that include harems- this story takes place in the United States, no way could he get away with it. As much as our author is a pervert who enjoys harem anime, he also enjoys action anime even more- and that's what this falls into. Besides, we can all tell that Master Chris likes Helen the most, him and Frances are good friends and sparring partners, and he hasn't even met this Maria. Not saying that he won't….

**Mattardis by Tanaka:** Please see Edge's answer to Jyn-the-Raccoon for the specifics, but yes- the Chaos Drives are the Chaos batteries. As for your second question, we're not allowed to talk too much about Shadow… yet.

**Zohaku by Edge:** Wow… you didn't say much. But the author gives his thanks.

**SuperSpeed by Edge:** Alright, last one. 1st, yes, Lindsey does know. We figured it would be a great idea to let her be one of the few people close to Chris to know. And you know what they say about moms- they know everything. Hope we explained the Mark enough… and yeah. Chaos Energy poisoning sucks. 2nd, yeah, Maria's log is pretty much a scientific private journal. The reason it's scientific is because it records her findings in her quest to study Chao and the Chaos Emeralds, following in the lighter footsteps of her family's legacy and trying to prove not everything her great-grandfather did was evil. However, it's private, because what she goes through cannot be publicized just yet without making her seem crazy… the last thing her family legacy needs because the world government is practically staring at her.

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Well, I hope this helps people. Don't expect another update until May at the earliest- I've got finals that need taken care of on the first week of May, so no promises. Kingdom Rider92, out!


	25. Episode 9, Part 2

A/N: *Insert witty dialogue here*

* * *

**Human Card:** Dr. Karin Naka

**Occupation:** Professional Chao Doctor (former), Private Chao Doctor (current), Chaos Energy Researcher

**Known Family:** Unknown mother and father (still alive)

**Hobbies:** Watching over Swift and Miles, Chao raising, interior design

* * *

**Station Square General Hospital- 02:29**

Sonic- with a surprisingly clean shirt after Frances' blood got on it- stood on the roof of the hospital, tiredly waiting for someone. The hedgehog pulled out a cell phone, and checked the time. Hard to believe hours ago he was rushing Frances here in an effort to stabilize her and just now returning back.

'_**Where are they?'**_ Swift angrily questioned. _**'They said they'd be here.'**_

'_Swift,'_ Chris scowled, annoyed by how early it was, _'it's 2:30 in the morning. Be happy that the blast downtown canceled school _and _Frances is one of my friends. Otherwise, I wouldn't be up this early.'_

'_**Alright, I'm sorry,'**_ Swift scowled. _**'But you have to admit it's not one-hundred percent my fault- nobody knew this would happen.'**_

'_You're telling me,'_ Chris stated. Neither side of Sonic needed help remembering what happened when they returned home.

* * *

**Flashback- Chuck's Garage- 17:03**

_Sonic rushed inside the living room, panting. Reverting back to normal, the first thing Swift did was ask, "Dr. Naka, can you do me a favor?"_

"_Swift, what the hell happened downtown?" Karin instantly asked, pointing to the television, which covered the damages done by the Chaos Emerald's energy explosion._

"…So far,"_ Scarlet Garcia continued her news cast,_ "we have no idea as to what originated the explosion or the blackouts that have hit most of downtown. Luckily, no death count has been confirmed yet. But there were sightings of Sonic the Hedgehog carrying an injured girl to Station Square General. The girl has suffered burn marks and seems to have been electrocuted. Doctors are now working to help her get past this, but she has some sort of mysterious fever. Before Sonic could explain, the police showed up, and began to pursue. The hedgehog has escaped custody so far, but G.U.N. military doctors have been called to take the girl into custody to study her strange condition. But this brings up a good question: does Sonic have anything to do with the disaster downtown? The President's spokesman Jerome Wise had this to say about the disaster upon hearing about it."

"You see, folks,"_ Jerome Wise announced to a crowd, _"this is why we cannot tolerate the Mobians. They will cause our country to collapse on itself. Them _and _Dr. Robotnik. They are both terrorists. It wouldn't surprise me if it turns out that whatever they're fighting over is only a ruse to destroy America and they turn out to be on the same side! And Sonic has started his crisis in Station Square! We should seal it off until he is dealt with to the fullest extent of the law!"

"Government officials are concerned with whether or not we block off Station Square until Sonic has been found and apprehended for terrorist activities,"_ Scarlet announced._ "Personally, I don't think Station Square should be punished for Sonic's vigilantism. And considering how fast and powerful he and his two allies are, I doubt quarantining the city would be able to hold them. This has been Scarlet Garcia, Station Square News."

"_Oh, that," Swift announced, a swirl over his head. "Look, the Chaos Emerald totaling part of downtown can wait. I need help with something else!"_

"_Something else?" Danny spoke up as he walked into the room. "Frances is in the hospital, and you don't care!"_

"_Of course I care about it," the hedgehog Chao scowled. "I'm trying to figure out _why_ it all happened! Just because I'm the third dumbest person on this team doesn't mean I don't _think_ at all!" Spike and Ahaw Kin scowled at Swift. However, Swift had a question mark over his head, showing that he was actually thinking. "It's impossible, right? Everyone on the plan has Chaos Energy… right?"_

"_Well, technically, yes," Karin agreed. "Though there have been exceptions throughout the world, often resulting in cases of Chaos Energy-based radiation deaths. But what does that have to do with what happened-"_

"_Dr. Naka," Chris finally spoke, taking off his still bloody shirt, "Swift's Chaos Sense says that Frances doesn't have any natural Chaos Energy in her body." Karin, Spike, and Ahaw Kin stopped cold. Danny, however, was confused._

"_Okay," the pilot voiced, "can somebody explain…?"_

"_As everyone's aware," Swift began, "I want Frances on the team. However, if she doesn't have Chaos Energy- and I _hope_ my Chaos Sense is wrong- she can't bond with a Chao, let alone hold our new friend." Chris pulled out the yellow Chaos Emerald, and handed it to Danny. Miles looked up at it, a scowl on his face._

"_So, we meet again," the kitsune Chao told the Emerald, a swirl over his head. "It's been a while since you cursed me."_

"_You've been cursed by a Chaos Emerald?" Danny questioned. Miles looked up._

"_I'm pretty sure having more than one tail and being considered a damn _freak_ for your entire life thanks to being exposed to two baby foxes and this Emerald at the same time isn't a good gift, despite giving me super intelligence and flight," the fox Chao replied before looking at Swift. "Swift, is it okay we smash this thing into dust?"_

"_As much trouble as it's caused you, Frances, and anyone else," Swift announced, "we're probably going to need it intact. If the Emerald violently reacted to someone with low to no Chaos Energy _that _poorly, think about what would happen if we destroyed it. For all we know, thunderstorms and wildfires would be unleashed throughout the world. Those who control America's media are already pinning us for what happened today- I'm not bringing about the end of the world and confirming their blames. So, we're keeping the Emerald, end of argument." Turning back to Karin, Swift announced, "So anyways, back on topic- is it possible that Frances lacks Chaos Energy?"_

"_I would need a blood sample," Karin announced. Chris threw his shirt at her._

"_Yeah, she bled on it," the boy announced while grabbing a blanket. Spike focused his own Chaos Sense on the bloody shirt while Karin scrapped a bit of the dried blood off of the shirt._

_Eventually, both confirmed Swift's fears. "I'm sorry, hedgehog Chao," the echidna Chao told Swift, a question mark over his head. "Your girlfriend doesn't have any… which is odd considering you're a Chao _and_ all beings should have Chaos Energy." Swift had an exclamation point above his head._

"_Well what are we supposed to do about this?" Swift questioned._

"_I'm not sure, Swift," Karin sighed. "If Frances doesn't have natural Chaos Energy, she's most likely going to die in that hospital." Swift's eyes boggled in surprise. Karin typed on her laptop, bringing up pictures of dead bodies in hospitals- including a recent one in Russia. "These are all corpses of Chaos Radiation victims- it's the reason why nobody's considered using Chaos Energy as a fuel source. Chaos Radiation is nasty… direct exposure to high amounts of Chaos Energy is like coming into direct contact with a star while inhaling toxic gases. You and Chris managed to get the Emerald away from her before it got too far… but the average patient who gets that lucky doesn't survive longer than 72 hours after contact."_

"_So we have less than three days to fix this," Swift stated. "What kind of cure are we looking for?"_

"_Easier said than done." This killed Swift's hopes. "Not too many things can get rid of Chaos Radiation… but if we can channel the toxic energy out through an indirect medium…" Karin then closed her laptop. "I'm taking the rest of the day off."_

"_What?" Chuck asked as he walked into the room._

"_I think I have a way to fix this," Karin clarified, "but there's no way we're going to be able to do this in broad daylight and I left something important at home that can help." Turning to Chris, she ordered, "Bring the yellow Emerald to Station Square General by 3 a.m. Find a way to meet me on the roof."_

"_Okay," Ahaw Kin stated, "what's going on?"_

"_We're about to break into a hospital," Chris realized. "Okay, should we do this? I mean, the public is not going to be happy about it."_

"_You heard the reports," Karin argued. "G.U.N. is on their way to take Frances to study. If we don't do this, we may never get a chance to help her out."_

* * *

**Station Square General Hopsital- 02:59**

Sonic was brought back to reality by the sound of an airplane landing so well on the roof of the hospital. Tails, Knuckles, and Karin climbed out of it, the human of the group instantly kissing the floor.

"Thank god we're on solid ground for the most part," Karin breathed. Sonic and the others blinked at the woman, who upon realizing that everyone was looking at her blushed and stood normally.

"Okay," Sonic asked, "why are we here? What's the plan? It better be good, because considering yesterday afternoon, our approval rate just took a major hit, and my Chao side _really_ wants to do damage control."

"It's simple," the Chao doctor smiled as she reached into the plane and pulled out a reinforced briefcase. Opening it, she revealed the purple Chaos Morpher she was working on.

"I thought you said you weren't going to use it," Tails questioned, looking at the Morpher.

"It's not for me, guys," Karin shook her head. "It's for Frances. All three of the Neo Mobians blinked. "Let's be honest, gentlemen- are your Chaos Morphers not indirect pathways to release built up Chaos Energy?" Tails and Sonic both thought about it.

"Well," Tails answered, "the Chaos Morpher _do_ use Chaos Energy as a power source."

"Exactly," Karin replied. "The Morphers feed off of it to keep you in those states. If I'm right- and Miles probably will answer this for me- then the only reason the Morphers have such a time limit that you can be in Neo Mobian state is because once it runs out, it naturally starts using your _own_ Chaos Energy in your bodies- and considering what just happened to Frances, it's not good. We can use that to drain the Chaos Energy poisoning Frances before G.U.N. shows up."

"You left out the part that explains _why_ we're breaking into a hospital," Sonic pointed out.

"Do you honestly think as civilians we'd even get _close_ to a dying patient with Chaos Radiation?" Karin rhetorically asked. "It's not like you could say, 'Hi, I'm the friend of the dying girl who looks like she was hit with a bolt of lightning. Do you mind if I waltz in and strap a strange wristwatch to her in an attempt to save her life'?" The three groaned- she had a point. Not only would people think they were crazy, but it would be impossible to get into the emergency room past visiting hours when you're not family.

"So how do you figure we're going to pull this off?" Knuckles asked.

"Alright," the doctor grinned, "here's my plan. Tails and Knuckles will fly down-"

"It's not 'flying', it's 'gliding'!"

"-whatever. I just need you two to go inside, Knuckles takes out any guards patrolling the ground floor- silently but avoid killing them, I might add- and Tails to shut down any form of technological security. Once we're clear, Sonic needs to dash into the hospital, find Frances, and place the Chaos Morpher on her wrist."

"Why did you have me bring the Chaos Emerald, then?" Sonic spoke up.

"We're going to accelerate the purification process by transferring the power into the Emerald that it came from," Karin answered in a matter-of-fact tone. Everyone looked at her like she had officially lost her mind. "Would you guys rather that amount of unstable Chaos Energy to stay in the air and take forever?"

"Fine, we'll do this," Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles agreed. Tails and Knuckles jumped off the side of the building, Tails floating down while Knuckles glided between buildings, landing in front of the hospital. The echidna walked inside, claws bared. Tails, concerned with how Knuckles would handle things, kept up with the echidna, who only held up a hand to stop him. Knuckles pointed one of his three fingers towards a filing cabinet, as if to tell the fox boy to hide behind while he looked at the secretary at the desk. Lucky for the two, she was too busy reading a Batman comic to notice the two Neo Mobians in the main lobby.

As Tails hid behind the desk, Knuckles casually walked up to the desk. The secretary, with a bored expression on her face, announced, "Sir, we're closed for the night- I'm going to have to ask you to-"

_**THUD.**_

Knuckles, deciding not to take any chances, pinched a nerve on the secretary, and let her slump onto the desk. Making it look like she passed out from exhaustion, the echidna whispered, "I'll go on ahead. When I come back, there should be a clear way through this floor."

"Sounds good to me," Tails stated. "Just don't kill anyone."

"My human and Chao sides avoid murder if they can prevent it. But I'll admit they've killed a couple men who got too stubborn." Tails gulped as Knuckles walked down the hallway. Several minutes later, he walked back, placing an unconscious janitor on the ground. "Hallway's clear- there was only a few staff members down here."

"I hate to see what you would have done if there were more," the fox announced as he looked at the hallway- only three unconscious guys between them and the hospital security room that was soon cleared out with a few knocking of heads together. Once in place, Tails cracked his hands, and typed in several commands.

"Have you done this before?" Knuckles asked.

"Hacked into a security system?" Tails chuckled. "No. It's kind of illegal. But that does not mean my human side doesn't know how to turn off cameras to avoid recording our breaking and entering into a hospital." Once all of the cameras were off, Tails smiled before pulling out a walkie talkie. "Tails to Karin… Sonic is now the invisible Hedgehog."

"_Perfect,"_ Karin announced through the radio. _"Stay there until I give the okay."_ The two nodded, wondering what was going on with Sonic.

The hedgehog, meanwhile, was already on the move, checking each of the rooms in the upper floors for Frances. Eventually, he found her room. Walking in, Sonic took notice of the poor girl… electricity jumping off of her… and her hands looked severely burnt. Sonic grimaced- even if Karin's crazy scheme worked and Frances' life was saved, he doubted her chances of being a normal human again.

"Dr. Naka," Sonic spoke up through his own radio as he approached the girl, "we found her."

"_Alright, next part,"_ the Chao doctor told the hedgehog. _"Now… the most complicated part. For this to work, we need the Morpher attached and the Emerald held at the same time. She may try to fight back once the procedure starts… and I don't know what the hell may happen when she does."_

"Doc," Sonic stated, "I only have two hands. This sounds like a four-hand job."

"_This is why I need you to separate into Chris and Swift."_ This caused Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to all become silent in confusion.

"…I'm sorry, but what?"

"_I know, exposing your human side to this much Chaos Energy- even with your high level- will not be pretty and we're all doubting that this will even work. If it does, the side effects will be… unpredictable. However, we have only hours before G.U.N. shows up and God knows whether if they're going to actually help Frances or try to weaponize her Chaos energy… and we can't have that."_

"I'm more worried about the unpredictability than I am the Chaos radiation… she only came into direct contact with Chaos Energy for a few minutes."

"_More than enough to kill her within less than three days if we don't act now."_

"I understand the pressure, Doctor. I just wish that we could've avoided this." Sonic then split into Chris and Swift once more, the former pulling the purple Morpher out of his pocket and the latter holding the yellow Emerald.

"Chris," the hedgehog Chao sighed, "I shouldn't have gotten Frances involved without absolute confirmation."

"It's not completely your fault, Swift," Chris told the Chao. "Let me get the Morpher on, and see if I can restrain her before you use that Emerald to speed up the process." The boy approached his friend-

_**WHOOSH!**_

A white and purple blur zipped by the two, and landed on a nearby shelf to reveal a white-furred, female neutral Chao with large, violet fruit bat wings and equally big bat ears. Her chest had a large pink heart-shaped patch of fur, and her blue-green eyes were half-open in a flirty tone, showing her powder blue eyeshadow. Fluttering her long eyelashes with a heart over her head, she smiled, "Aw, boys… you really shouldn't have!" She then held out her hands, revealing she had the Emerald and the Morpher. Chris and Swift blinked before looking down at their now empty hands.

Swift, with a large exclamation mark over his head, questioned, "Who the hell are you? And how did you get in here?"

"It was easy to follow you, sweetheart," the bat Chao smiled. "Your fox and echidna friends really helped get me past the lower levels with their handiwork by the way. As for 'who the hell am I'… have you not heard of the notorious thief Chao?"

"…Can't say I've pay attention much to trivial matters." The bat Chao's heart turned into a swirl of annoyance. However, the swirl quickly faded.

"Well, at least one of us pays attention to someone else making headlines," the bat Chao replied. "To think that Sonic the Hedgehog was a human boy and a Chao. It's almost so funny, I forgot to laugh. Well, maybe I can get a chuckle at being the Chao that outwitted Sonic." Looking at the Chaos Emerald in her left hand, she smiled, "Such a beautiful jewel… you have no idea how long I had to spend in Russia trying to find this, only to be beaten to it by a teenage girl and her father. Luckily, I pick-pocketed the man in D.C., only for that girl and her friend to chase me through the streets over a watch similar to this one." She then held up the Morpher in her right hand. "The chaos made me lose the jewel again… but now you go and hand it over to me. Thank you very much, hedgehog Chao." Swift jumped onto the shelf she was on, stopping her from going anywhere else.

"What do you want with the Chaos Emerald and Morpher?" Chris demanded from the bat Chao. At this question, she had an honest question mark over her head.

"'Chaos Morpher'? I mean, I knew what the Emeralds are, but a Morpher?" Looking at the watch, she shrugged, "I guess it could sell for something worthwhile, but the Emerald is all I really need. After all… all of the world's gems are mine."

"Okay," Swift announced, sinking into a fighting stance, "I guess I can group into the 'master thief' part of my rogues' gallery. Good thing… I need just one regular villain to balance it out."

"Swift," Chris pointed out, "I thought we only had one real villain." The hedgehog Chao returned to normal stance, confused as he turned to Chris with a question mark over his head. The bat Chao, however, cracked her neck, and raised a leg.

"You don't count G.U.N., that Hector guy, that annoying secretary of the President's, and those two robots and that demon Chao working under Eggman as adversaries?" Before Chris could answer, Swift was tapped on the shoulder. When he turned around, the hedgehog Chao saw the bat Chao's leg rushing towards his face, which launched him into the wall. Before Chris could register what was going on, the bat Chao had flown towards the room's exit.

"Farewell, sweethearts," the bat Chao smiled, blowing a kiss to Chris before flying off with a laugh. Swift, as soon as he pried himself from the wall, scowled in anger with a swirl over his head.

"Okay… let me adjust her entry into my rogues' gallery," he told Chris. "Master thief Chao… who's kicks are as strong as Spike's punches. She has better lower body strength than I do when it comes to hand-to-hand combat!" Turning towards the door, he stated, "If I use my Chaos Sense, I can find her no problem and get at least the Morpher back."

"I better come after you," Chris announced. Swift held up a hand.

"As tempting as it is for it," the hedgehog Chao answered, "I'm afraid Chao Code dictates that you're not allowed to lay a hostile hand on her in heavily occupied zones. I, however, am _not_ bound to that. Besides… somebody has to watch Frances while I get our stuff back."

"Alright," Chris answered. "I'll see if my Morpher will at least help." The Chao nodded at his owner, and rushed off, while Chris removed his Chaos Morpher. Sighing at Frances, he said, "This will hurt a lot… but it's better than letting you die." Without any further reluctance, he attached the Morpher to her wrist, and activated it.

* * *

**Downtown Station Square- 03:36**

The bat Chao smiled to herself as she landed on a roof of a building. She knew Chao Code- as a Chao; humans were not allowed to harm her directly. It certainly helped her escape multiple times. Reveling in her latest victory, she took this time to admire her prizes once more.

On one hand, there was the watch. The thief did not see what the big deal was with the watch, though. The Chaos Morpher- as the watch was called- did not seem anymore than a fancy wristwatch that she could use to buy more jewels. Though, the two boys she encountered seemed to value the watch as well as the Emerald, so it had to be important that the secret identities of Sonic had to watch out for it.

Speaking of the Chaos Emerald… that was her true prize. She heard the stories of the Chaos Emeralds. She knew pretty damn well what they might be capable of… it just wasn't until earlier that she had seen it for herself. Powerful and beautiful gems, the Emeralds were… almost like her.

"Ruby," she smiled with a heart over her head, "you've outdone yourself this time. Your mother would be proud."

"So your name's Ruby," Swift's voice spoke up, turning Ruby's heart into an exclamation point before she turned around to see the Chao, a smug look on his face.

"H-h-how did you-?"

"How did I follow you?" Swift finished. "Simple- I know a lot about Chaos Energy. Not enough to predict what happened earlier, but enough of its secrets to last a lifetime. I was born with a Chaos Emerald, and I've been given powers with it… namely superhuman speed and a sixth sense that allows me to detect Chaos Energy. Gotta say your kicks are just as good as mine, if not better. But enough about me, Ruby. Hand over the Emerald and the Morpher, and I might just let you go unharmed and we'll call it a night." The bat Chao, rather than surrender, grinned as she calmed herself down.

"So, you know Chaos Sense, too. " Swift blinked. "I happen to know it- I wouldn't be such a treasure hunter without it. I thought I was one of the only ones outside of the echidna Chao that still walk this Earth. Anyways, sweetheart… I'm going to make you a counter-proposal."

"What kind of counter-proposal?" Swift asked; weary of what she might do next.

"How would you like to be my partner?" Ruby offered. "With both of our heightened senses and our super abilities, we'll be unstoppable thieves, and have all seven Chaos Emeralds in no time."

"…Well, I think we may a spot for you on our team if you're interested, but I'm _already_ in big enough trouble with the law. I don't need any more of that by stealing the Chaos Emeralds and other jewels." The bat Chao sighed, knowing the fighting look in Swift's eye as he widened his stance. "Sorry, but I'm _really_ going to need that Morpher back."

"Trying to steal from a thief?" Ruby asked, sinking into her own fighting stance. "Well, that's not one of the stupidest things I've heard… but that doesn't mean it's smart. You can try, though." Swift and Ruby then rushed at each other, ready to fight.

* * *

**Chao Card:** Ruby

**Type:** Normal, Fruit Bat (with trace of vampire), Flight/Power

**Known Powers:** Chaos Sense, Experienced Leg Combat, Flight, Expert hearing, Seduction

**Equipment:** Currently unknown

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, this will be a three-parter. Now, I'm sorry I'm horribly late, but I have some stuff for you. Anyways, Edge, it's time for you to answer reviews.

Edge's Corner: Okay. Well, Karin, you up for it?

Karin: That's "Dr. Naka" to you.

Edge: I thought you resigned-

Karin: First review...

**Hanzo of the Salamander by Edge:** Wait... are you drunk like a pirate, drunk off pancakes, or just plain drunk? Because all three are pretty freaking impressive that you can type properly. I think you'll make a fine addition to the Pirates of Arcadia.

**White Hunter by Karin:** Well, I'm also hoping this plan works... considering how I'm the one who thought it up. It would greatly hurt my study of Chaos Energy and Chao if this plan didn't work.

Edge: So that explains why you keep the title of "Doctor."

Karin: Doctor Who?

Edge: ...I see what you did there.

**Sozic by Edge:** Indeed it is. You know, upon retrospect, I don't think Ruby was properly introduced. When we get to that Maria's Log, we'll have to give her a proper intro. Either that or we have a flashback.

**SPark681 by Karin:** Well, we try to keep you on edge. This arc is- in my opinion- one of the most important sagas in season 1, as it's going to have an effect on Frances if she lives.

**Zohaku by Karin:** Swift's little theory does seem to be cracking a bit, here. Considering what's happened to Frances, this is a very special case. There's no way we can let her fall into GUN's hands or Robotnik's now. Too bad it's Frances, though- studying a person without Chaos Energy surviving all of this is too good of an oppurtunity, but I can't do it to Chris' friend.

**Jyn-the-Raccoon by Edge:** Yeah, it's the Chao side of Rouge, so you're sort of right. However, about Metal Sonic... he's not around, yet. We have plans, I'll admit but right now, he's not here.

**Srs Question and Little Assassin Girls by Edge:** ...I... don't know what to say. There are so many things I want to say, but this is a radio show. So I won't say those things. Is everyone else getting prank reviews like this? Because if this persists, I'm hacking into Kingdom Rider92's account and blocking anonymous comments.

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay, that ought to do it for that. Also, the poll's still on in my profile if you're interested. I may open up a new poll for a different story... oh well. Kingdom Rider92 out!


	26. Episode 9, Part 3

A/N: Well, it's time for some serious _Sonic Chao Chronicles._

* * *

**Robot Card:** Egg Gigas

**Model:** E-K0001

**Equipment:** Metallic Claws (retractable), Stone Exterior

**Purpose:** Base Defense

* * *

**Station Square General Hospital- 04:08**

As Swift's battle with Ruby began, Chris was fighting another battle. A battle to avoid falling asleep from exhaustion and boredom.

Despite Karin's warning that it was a dangerous process, absolutely nothing was happening. No violent fits were spurring out of his friend. If Frances was supposed to be doing something- anything at all- then something should have happened by now. However, all that was happening was his Morpher glowing like it always did when he transformed and Frances was tossing in her sleep. Not an overly violent reaction, but to be on the safe side, he kept watch of her and restrained her.

"…_Chris,"_ Karin questioned, snapping the boy out of his nearly asleep state. _"Has Frances reacted yet for you and Swift?"_

"Nothing yet from what I can tell," Chris replied. "So, what am I supposed to be looking for? Violent thrashing or something else?"

"_Chris,"_ Karin replied, _"think. Frances isn't your ordinary human being on this planet- that's saying something, as you're one half of a Neo Mobian. For all that happened today, if this process works and she does make a full recovery… she could probably have super powers or something. She'd be a new breed of human altogether."_

"That's comforting to know," Chris sarcastically muttered. "What do you mean by 'super powers'?"

"_Well, keep in mind this is not the first time anybody's suffered of Chaos Radiation,"_ Karin reminded him. _"According to rumors between those who study Chaos Energy- and that's quite a few of us, by the way- those who suffer the radiation were showing signs of unnatural abilities before death, and Frances here damaged quite a bit of the city for a brief time. We're willing to bet that had they lived and recovered, they would have some amazing powers. Add that to the Morpher's Chaos Energy usage allowing you the powers of Swift, she may have some monstrous skills. I'm just telling you to be careful."_

"Right," Chris stated. "What are the chances of that happening?"

Before Karin could answer, Frances let out an unworldly scream of agony, turning Chris' attention towards her. To Chris' surprise, Frances' hands- her burned hands- were engulfed in flames. But rather than hurt anymore, the wounds on her hands began to seal up. As if she was aware of the restraints keeping her on the hospital bed, she focused the flames around her hands towards the restraints. Two small fireballs exploded from her palms, slicing through the leather straps with simplicity.

Frances rose from the bed, the Morpher glowing violently. When she opened her eyes, rather than light blue and wide like a normal person's, they were yellow and almost catlike. However, she did not seem fully conscious. Her mouth, even if it was closed, seemed to not stop a feline like tooth from exposing itself from behind her upper lip. Behind the flames in her hand, Chris could notice Frances' nails had a claw appearance. Although Chris was in awe by his friend, he was very weary of Frances' actions.

"…Frances," Chris breathed, "are you okay?" The response was a violent scream as she launched fireballs at him, which he barely dodged but one ended up hitting a sprinkler, setting the whole system off. "I'm going to take that as a 'no'." Grabbing the walkie talkie, he yelled, "Tails, Knuckles, someone get up here!" Dodging a fireball thrown at him, he yelled, "NOW!"

* * *

**Downtown Station Square- 04:26**

Swift barely dodged Ruby's roundhouse by leaning back before countering with his own upwards kick, sending the bat Chao airborne. The hedgehog Chao hated to admit it, but Ruby was a better fighter than she let on. In fact, what she had in stealth it was just about as much in combat as well.

Still, Swift was easily faster on his feet. "What's the matter, bat girl?" Swift called up to her. "Am I too fast for ya? Hand over the Emerald and Morpher and I'll leave you alone."

"Oh, I'm not even really trying," the bat Chao shouted down. "If I was, you'd be unconscious, already. And the answer is still no- you're not getting the Chaos Emerald or this fancy wristwatch."

"Why do you want the Chaos Emeralds so badly, anyways?" Swift asked with a question mark over his head.

"Proving that I'm the world's greatest treasure hunter is one thing," Ruby suggested. "However, I'm a lover of fine jewelry, and these Emeralds? They're simply priceless. Why do you want them, hedgehog Chao?"

"Because I know how dangerous they truly are," Swift replied. "That's one of the trouble maker Emeralds. It will cause more harm than good!"

"Oh, I know the risks of this emerald, sweetheart," Ruby replied. "I saw what it did, downtown. Got to say, though, that the girl was foolish to unleash its power."

"All of the more reason for me to handle it," Swift insisted. "I've been around a Chaos Emerald all of my life, so I can handle it. However, that girl will die if I don't get that stuff back! Do you want an innocent civilian's death on your conscience?"

"…Do you think I care whether the girl lives or dies?" Ruby scoffed. "She didn't know what she was doing, and she paid the price. It's no skin off of my wings what happens to her. The girl brought it on herself. As long as I have the Emerald, then that's that."

"Okay, you just stepped up on my roster," Swift growled, a swirl over his head. The bat Chao gasped in fake surprise before landing on the ground.

"Aw, how cute… seems like little hedgehog Chao likes the girl," Ruby giggled before kicking Swift. He quickly got up and threw a few punches, but they were each dodged by the bat Chao and flying away. "You're more of an interesting Chao than I thought. What's a former wild Chao like you care for humans? I mean, you and I both have Chaos Sense, so you surely know why the Mobians were wiped out. Surely, if these humans get their hands on the Emeralds, then they'd only cause the disaster all over again."

"Not if they knew what could happen!" Swift argued.

"The DCS has been doing their damndest to cover up the true stories," Ruby pointed out while landing on the ground and sending a roundhouse Swift's way, which he countered with his own. "If they found out that you told some human, there would be hell to pay."

"What if one of the humans researched Chao and Chaos Energy for a living?" Swift asked. This seemed to shock Ruby into relenting, allowing Swift to rush in and slam a quick fist to her gut, knocking her back. He then performed a roundhouse kick, jumped into the air while she was stunned, and knocked her down with a Homing Attack, ensuring his victory. Standing over her, the hedgehog Chao stated, "I know it's a shaky story, but I trust Dr. Naka's prediction that the Morpher will work to help Frances. Dr. Naka lives for Chao and Chaos Energy, so it's better to trust her with the stories about the Emeralds than other humans. Besides, you don't look like a Wild Chao anymore, either."

"How in the…?" Ruby questioned as Swift grabbed the Emerald and the Morpher from her and got off. With a question mark over her head, she asked, "How did you figure that out?"

"You use a fighting style that relies exclusively on kicks and dodging," Swift explained. "Not to mention you could easily enter a private hospital room without losing your flight, and that first kick did really hurt. You have a benefactor somewhere… possibly where you picked up on your martial arts training, as that's not ordinary for a wild Chao to know. Meanwhile, it's easier to say I'm more of a wild Chao, because my combat techniques are pretty much not only self-taught but improvised with some Chao Karate mixed in. I use what I can get when I fight… though I can win with my agility."

Ruby scowled. "So why choose to be with a human? You seem to be able to take care of yourself."

"That's where you're wrong," Swift smiled. "I recently learned that I can't handle everything solo… not even my own revenge against the man who burned my house down." Swift turned to walk away-

_**PEW!**_

The hedgehog Chao turned right into a tranquilizer dart plunking him square in the forehead. "…I really hate my luck," Swift sleepily stated before falling over onto his side and passing out. Ruby, shrugging, walked over to the Chaos Emerald and Morpher, admiring them.

"Well, even if I lost the battle," she smiled, "I still get the prize." She was about to fly away when a spotlight shined down on her, blinding her. "Aw, damn it," Ruby swore upon sighting the G.U.N. logo on the side of a helicopter. Soon, ropes were thrown down, and professional G.U.N. soldiers slid down them, all bearing non-lethal firearms, and soon she found herself and her downed opponent surrounded. Ruby, knowing that there was no way out of this, just raised her arms in annoyance.

"Judging by this scene," one of the soldiers spoke up while holding a restrained Ruby, "one of these two has to be the Chao gem thief. I know we're here for the girl a few blocks from here, but let's take these two in."

* * *

**Station Square General Hospital- 04:31**

"_Okay,"_ Karin asked over the radio, _"so do you want to explain what's going on, there?"_

"The short version is Frances just became a bit of a firebrand," Chris replied while ducking under a table from one of Frances' fireballs. "That thing about superpowers you said earlier was right?"

"_Okay,"_ Karin acknowledged. _"Now where's Swift? He should be draining that violent Chaos Energy!"_

"Would you believe it if we were ambushed by the mysterious Chao gem thief?" Chris offered. "She showed up, stole the Morpher we were going to use and the Chaos Emerald, and Swift went after her. He should've been back by now."

"_Then how the hell-"_ Karin began, only to stop. _"Chris, don't tell me you used _your_ Morpher! Do you know how much energy you could have stored in that thing from your transformations as Sonic?"_ For a moment, this seemed to shock Frances into stopping her assault, and leaving her stunned. _"For all we know, it could be fueling Frances' new powers and making her rampage! You have to remove that Morpher before G.U.N. gets here. I think I see them!"_

"…To be fair, you didn't warn us what could happen if any flaws pop up," Chris commented. Soon, Frances jumped up onto the table Chris hid behind for cover. The girl let out an unholy scream as she looked down at him. The flames around her left hand formed into a large cat paw with the claws fully extended.

"Chris…" Frances growled, surprising the boy. "You know what's going on with me? Why it feels like my very soul is on fire? Hell, you even knew about that gem that caused all of this? In fact, you're Sonic?"

"…Yes," Chris replied, surprised to be having this conversation. "We know you're suffering from Chaos Radiation, a rare disease that's prevented the world from fully using Chaos Energy as a fuel source. That gem- a Chaos Emerald- is one of the strongest sources of Chaos Energy on the planet… and it's sort of become my job as Sonic to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, you happen to not have any real Chaos Energy, which somehow resulted in this."

"Why the hell didn't you say something, before?" Frances growled. "I could've helped you, out, Chris!"

"It's a hero thing, Frances," Chris replied. "I couldn't tell you or Helen, because… well, you've read comic books, and you know what happened to Helen. If people truly begin relating me and Sonic to you guys, then you'd be targets. Still, I wanted to… in fact, Swift was going to recruit you to help us out, but then this happened. Now, could you put the flaming claw away?" He was answered by Frances suddenly using her right hand to grab her left arm, which began showing some violent resistance.

"Believe me, Chris," Frances stated, "I do want to. However, I… I don't I can resist this power. Chris… what in god's name is going on with me, here? The flames are saying things… they want me to burn this hospital down to the ground."

"Frances," Chris breathed, "you know you can fight that power. I don't know what is going on in that head of yours, but the Francine Hickory Burns that I know would not let herself lose to some sort of non-physical being."

"I think this power's _alive,_ though," Frances replied, wincing her eyes in sudden pain. "These flames are demanding… carnage! What the hell is going on with me?"

"_Chris,"_ Karin spoke up, _"we need that Morpher off _now!"

"Alright, I get it, Dr. Naka!" Chris told the woman. "I'm working on it… but I may need back-up."

"I have you covered!" Knuckles spoke up. Soon, Frances found herself pinned to the wall by Knuckles, who used his clawed hands to hold Frances' arms to it. "Deactivate that Morpher, Sonic! We have no time according to the doctor!"

"Got it!" Chris agreed, rushing over and deactivating the Morpher. Soon, Frances' flames died down, and her normal appearance returned, although disheveled. Frances, appearing to only be awake because of the Chaos Morpher, passed out yet again. "Okay… whatever we're calling that, we have to be careful that it doesn't happen again in a hospital." Taking the Morpher off of Frances' wrist and clapping it back on his own, Chris asked, "So, where's G.U.N.?"

"Who is this 'gun' that you speak of?" Knuckles voiced while lying Frances back on her bed, not knowing it was an acronym.

"Guardian Units of Nations," Chris replied. "We don't have time to go into further details, right now."

"_It's true,"_ Tails' voice replied. _"Get to the top of the building, soon- G.U.N. will be there, and I'm sure they'll have questions as to what two teenagers are doing in a hospital after hours."_

"Yeah," Chris replied. "So, has anyone seen Swift…?"

"_You're not going to like it,"_ Tails only replied as Knuckles opened a window to climb out of. Soon, Chris was hanging onto Knuckles' back while climbing up the building, and saw it before reaching the top of the building: Swift being loaded onto a G.U.N. helicopter along with Ruby.

By the time G.U.N. reached the hospital, they had several unanswered questions while recovering Frances. Why were there signs of a fiery struggle throughout her room? Who were the two Chao they captured? Why were they fighting over the gem and the watch? Also, why did the blue Chao look like he was Sonic? Finally, why on God's earth were there tire tracks from a small biplane on the roof of a hospital?

They may never know the answer to these questions.

* * *

**Thorndyke Manor- 07:26**

Danny, Ahaw Kin, Miles, and Spike watched as Chris and Karin paced back and forth, trying to figure out what their next move was. While Chris seemed to have silent anger at the turn of events, Karin was more vocal with her frustration.

"This is unbelievable!" Karin growled. "I know this wasn't supposed to be easy, but one Chao had to throw a monkey wrench into this operation and made it all of the harder to fix! Now, thanks to that bat Chao, not only did we lose Frances to G.U.N., but the Morpher, that Chaos Emerald, that started it all, _and_ my favorite patient!"

"I didn't think you'd play favorites," Miles commented. However a swirl popped over his head, and stated, "I'm still pissed off that we let the Emerald who tormented not just me but tons of others fall into G.U.N.'s hands! Who knows what kind of havoc they might unleash thanks to that thing! We have to find it again!"

"I know, Miles," Karin commented. "However, G.U.N. has several bases around the globe, so they could've taken it, Swift, and Frances just about anywhere in the world by now! Hell, they could have even split them up!"

"Doubtful," Chris voiced. "Frances still has Chaos Radiation in her. Not as much as that episode in the hospital, but still enough to make her an immediate emergency. In that case, G.U.N. wouldn't bother with separation and take her to the closest base they have…" Chris turned to Danny, and grinned. Danny, in response, shook his head.

"Not a chance in hell, Chris," the pilot scowled. "We're not going back there."

"What choice do we have?" Chris asked. "Swift and Frances are our prime concerns, not the fact that they shot one of your old planes down and kicked us out. Besides, you're not exactly going as Daniel Prower."

"Daniel Prower or Tails the Fox, whatever!" Danny snapped. "G.U.N. knows my face, and will shoot me on sight. Hell, they'll do the same to you, whether you're Christopher Thorndyke or Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"My dad owns Meteor Tech, which provides them some of the equipment they use," Chris replied while sitting down and opening a laptop. "They knew that when they booted us from the base instead of arresting us for entering a restricted government facility."

"Your point?" Danny brought up. Chris then turned his laptop to them, showing them a large walker.

"What if Meteor Tech Industries was scheduled to deliver a truck full of new battle combat walker mechs dubbed "Big Foot" that G.U.N. requested to that base in Arizona and I can figure out a way to convince my dad to let us come with him to demonstrate the mechs so Dr. Naka here could slip into the base and find the Morpher, the Chaos Emerald, Swift, and Frances so we can finish extracting Frances' Chaos Energy?"

Everyone looked at Chris as if he had grown a second head. Eventually, Karin asked, "When is this delivery scheduled and how do you know about it?"

"Dad once asked me no name a project he has been working on about four months ago," Chris replied. "I'll admit that it looks nothing like how the stories say Big Foot looks, but it does have very big feet… and big guns. As for when it's happening… tomorrow. I'll e-mail dad to see if he can squeeze us in."

"…Chris, you might've just saved our asses," Karin smiled. The smile quickly faded. "But he doesn't know Ahaw Kin…."

"Which is why we're going to have to disguise him again," Chris simplified. Ahaw Kin and Spike looked at each other.

"Can we get some sleep now?" Spike asked. "I feel like we've been at that hospital for almost three months." (A/N: THERE! Spike complained for you! Don't bring it up in the reviews!)

"We can't afford to get too comfortable right now with Frances in this condition, and if Chris' plan falls through, we're going to have to go in hot," Karin answered. "For now, get ready to move out in case Nelson can't work us in!" The two remaining Chao groaned in annoyance, swirls over their heads.

"If I had a say," Miles moaned, "I would just smash that Emerald and leave it."

"At this point," Spike stated, "I'd almost agree with you. In the short time I've known you all, this is probably the one mission we're going on that I'm not looking forward to."

* * *

**Ruby:** You know neither of us would be at a G.U.N. HQ if you hadn't followed me and made me lose all of that time!

**Swift:** Don't try to pin everything on me! You're the one who stole the Chaos Emerald and Chaos Morpher- I was just doing my job!

**Ruby:** Well, too bad about that. I think those G.U.N. jerks have taken interest in you.

**Karin:** Don't worry. We have a plan, here. I'm going to see Frances myself and get us all out of here before things get worse.

**Chris:** Dr. Naka, you might have to work fast.

**Karin:** Why?

**Chris:** G.U.N.'s not the only ones interested in Frances… Robotnik's here.

**Swift:** Oh great. Not only do I have to deal with this chick and rescue Frances, I have to escape early to stop Robotnik and G.U.N. from blowing each other up so much that Chris' dad doesn't get killed in the crossfire? Not even I can help save Frances and your dad at the same time if they're so far apart, Chris! I have to choose between them?

**Miles:** Wow, the next episode, "Assault at G.U.N. HQ! Swift's Tough Decision!" looks like it's gonna suck for him!

**Swift:** Just try to keep up with- hey! Miles, that's not how we do things!

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: I'm back, peoples! Man, after a long time away, we're back in the saddle. I'm sorry for the long delay- I've been busy.

Edge's Corner: Its true- he had a summer job all throughout July. Anyways, joining me today is the lovely Ruby.

Ruby: Aw, stop, you're embarrassing me, Edge. Now, let's begin…

**White Hunter by Edge:** Yeah, we're going to be risky on this mission. However, he did give Ruby a run for her money during that fight.

**Zohaku by Ruby:** To be frank, I'm not one who truly cares why the girl has no Chaos Energy… however, should she live, as you can tell, she'll be dangerous. As for little old me… oh, you'll see.

**Sozic by Ruby:** Oh, you think that, now? Well, good luck seeing if you're right.

**Inspirational Spark by Ruby:** Oh, we've looked into it. Don't worry, we'll do that.

**Jyn-the-Raccoon by Edge:** Now, who said Frances _won't_ be part of the team? As for Metal Sonic, we had to do it- Metal's one of the greatest main villains of any Sonic continuity, perhaps second to Robotnik himself. Metal will rise.

**Mattardis by Edge:** To be frank, a mixture of both original episodes and game-based story-arcs. Hell, season 1's final arc is going to be based off of one of the greatest things in the games…

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay. Well, we're done, here. See you next update! Kingdom Rider92, out!


	27. Episode 10, Part 1

A/N: Well, here we go. This is the tenth episode of _Sonic Chao Chronicles…_ and the episode where GUN steps up. I know this will seem rather mediocre.

* * *

**GUN Fortress, Arizona Base- 10:02**

Card Passer walked through his base- well, even if he was only in charge because the Commander put him in charge, it was his base- with two of his most trusted officers and the GUN pilot Sonic met some time before following him. "So Miss Stone," Passer spoke up, "I never bothered to truly ask you how your encounter with Sonic went."

"It was a complete failure," the agent- better known as Topaz Stone- replied. "I thought you read the file of my debriefing that Sonic defeated all of us and personally destroyed my plane's radio before any of us could call for back-up."

"I don't read about failures," Passer scowled. "However, this one failure peaks my interest… how is it possible that Sonic the Hedgehog defeated some of my best pilots and a professional black ops agent like you when he can't fly? The ability to destroy your radio is just as unlikely."

"He had an accomplice, sir," Topaz explained. "His ally, a fellow Mobian by the name 'Tails', was just as good of a pilot as me… if not better."

"You mean to tell me that these freaks are capable of managing and operating flight technology?" Passer scowled. "Okay, the thought is ridiculous, but it does peak my interest. However, how did Sonic destroy your radio?"

"Gunshot, sir," the agent replied. "He broke into my cockpit, stole my gun, and blew my radio to hell with it before disposing of my gun."

"…He had you at gunpoint and didn't do the smart thing?" Passer breathed. "Agent Stone, I'm suddenly having a harder time processing this bologna story you're feeding me. You're saying that Sonic had the opportunity to kill you- gun in his hand and everything- but didn't. Yet he knows how to use a firearm and has a Mobian friend who is a pilot. This means either you lied in your report or these freaks are more of this age than I gave them credit for."

"Sir," Topaz defended, "I'm not lying! I swear to God that I'm not!"

"Okay," Passer acknowledged, "let's assume, for the argument, your bull story is true. Well, as far as I can tell, the Mobians may have had advanced civilizations, but their physical technology was not of any flying machines or firearms. Yet these two Mobians- plus their latest addition that helped them escape the SSPD yet again- are pretty capable of piloting biplanes and shooting firearms. This means these monsters are somehow of a current age… and our latest prisoner can shed some light on this situation."

"What do you mean?" Topaz questioned.

"Yesterday morning," Passer explained, "when some of our men were sent to Station Square to secure what looks like a radiation poisoning victim, we found a blue Hedgehog Chao demonstrating Sonic the Hedgehog's traditional superhuman speed battling a female Honduran White Bat Chao that insists she's a Fruit Bat Chao. We have them both locked up and I have a small team watching the hedgehog Chao… and studying that strange gem and watch the two Chao were fighting over."

"I've been meaning to ask, but what of the girl?"

"I honestly don't care if the girl lives or dies," Passer replied. "It's not really my problem if she dies of radiation- we're only to study her, not make miracles. My main concerns today if we can find a relationship with the gem, the hedgehog Chao, the watch, and Sonic. I told the team that I want that Chao's DNA to see if we can make something to stop any more Mobians from popping up. Meanwhile, Miss Stone, I expect you to make up for your failure in killing Sonic by making sure nothing happens to our new gifts from Meteor Tech."

"Sir, that's a little heartless," a male GUN soldier spoke up. "The media expects us to do at least something to help her… we have to meet those expectations. Why would you let that girl die?"

Passer looked at the soldier with contempt. He casually walked over and slammed his fist into the soldier's stomach, sending him reeling to the ground, much to Topaz' shock. His two officers grabbed the soldier's arms and hoisted him up, holding him in place while Passer looked down at him. The next thing Topaz knew, Passer kicked the poor soldier so hard in the face she could swear she heard his jaw being fractured. As the soldier's teeth bled, Passer slammed a fist into the side of the man's face which would give him a black eye. The two officers cruelly released the soldier, letting him fall to the floor.

"I didn't ask for your goddamn opinion," the Colonel replied. "Question my authority again, and I will make this look like a slap on the wrists. Now get the hell out of my sight before I decide nobody will miss you, let alone find your body." Letting the soldier retreat in shame, he turned back to Topaz. "Miss Stone, I'm not for dirtying my hands, so be happy that after that report you gave me I didn't do that to you. However, should you disappoint me like that again I will see to it that you're dishonorably discharged from the military but not before I reduce you to a fine paste. I trusted you and your team to take down Sonic, but you dared come back here in failure… I don't tolerate it. So, the next time you see Sonic… either take him out or pray that he kills you because I wanted him dead weeks ago. We're done here… go see to the delivery. Oh, and don't question my authority again." Passer and his officers walked away, leaving Topaz alone… or so she thought.

"Oh my God," a young female officer with dirty blonde hair that was longer than Topaz' sandy blonde, ocean blue eyes, a pretty face with a beauty mark below her left eye but hidden behind a pair of green-rimmed glasses, and a rather buxom figure hidden underneath her purple CAT suit stated as she walked over from the shadows. She was only 17 years old, but she seemed to be a prodigy. "I can't believe Passer can do that and get away with it. Poor Johnny got brutalized."

"You really are an espionage agent," Topaz smiled. "So, what are you doing here, Maggie? I thought you were back in Station Square with your uncle after your investigation in Russia."

"Uncle Andy is busy with paperwork," the agent known as Maggie replied. "The incidents in Station Square are making things harder in the schools. Anyways, my main question is why are we tolerating the abuse that Colonel Passer is dealing out?"

"Because nobody has the guts to dare report anything to the Commander or the Generals," Topaz replied. "Not only do we all fear that his rank would make our stories invalid but he'd intercept any attempts to report to the top brass. He'd have us for insubordination. I'm just hoping to get reassigned to Air Force… being under Terra White is a hell of a lot better than this. What about you, rookie?"

"I'll stick to the espionage gig that my uncle's apart of," Maggie replied. "Also, why do you call me rookie, you flying old rock?"

"That's why I call you 'rookie'," Topaz scowled. "I hate being called old, and I know you hate being treated like the rookie we both know you are. So, stop it. The fact that we're training partners annoys me enough- it feels like I'm baby-sitting a kid."

"Oh screw you," Maggie scowled. "I'll be 18 soon enough… I'm graduating from high school this year, for god's sake!"

"Whatever," Topaz stated. "Anyways, we'll have to cut this conversation short- I have to oversee this new weapon system that GUN coughed up about 12,000,000 bucks for."

"Is that what Passer spent all of that on?" Maggie questioned. "I thought the Arms Race was over 40 years ago."

"It was," Topaz answered. "However, with the threat of Robotnik, we need bigger guns apparently. Anyways, I'll be seeing stuff explode. What are you going to be doing?"

"Doing what I do best- snoop around. The sooner we find something that we can slip by Passer to reveal just how much of a scumbag he is, the better it will be for us and all of the recruits sent here. Also, someone ought to see that the girl is taken care of, even if Passer doesn't care."

Maggie then walked away, leaving Topaz truly alone. Topaz groaned, "Now I know why I have to babysit her when she's far from Andy- she'll get herself killed by Passer. Why couldn't I be air force?"

* * *

**Episode 10: Assault at GUN HQ! Swift's Tough Decision**

* * *

**Arizona Highway- 11:14**

Tanaka drove the Lamborghini through the vast desert. He looked at the backseat where Karin, Danny, Ahaw Kin, Spike, and Miles sat- Miles sitting in Karin's lap while Spike sat in Ahaw Kin's. Speaking of Ahaw Kin, he was dressed in a red dress shirt, black tie (that Chris had to help him with), and black slacks, and looked rather uncomfortable. Danny was wearing a yellow dress shirt under a brown business jacket and brown slacks. Karin herself was wearing a tan dress shirt under her doctor's coat and a black skirt. Chris sat in the front wearing a blue dress shirt and black khakis, a determined look on his face.

"…Since nobody else seems to be in the mood to speak," Tanaka announced, "then I will. Master Chris, you have no idea how many last-minute strings your father pulled for you and your friends to be a part of this. The only reason our last direct experience with GUN ended with you, your grandfather, and Master Daniel being let go with a slap of the wrists was because of their fear of being cut off from your father. So, I expect you all to be on your best behavior… no fights or Morpher usage unless we need to do so. Otherwise, you will leave me with no choice but to tell your father of the incident and reveal to him your secret as Sonic. Do you understand, Master Chris?"

"Mr. Tanaka," Chris replied, "I don't have plans for getting into a fight. Frances has about a day and a half left if what we didn't drain with that incident in the hospital didn't buy us any more time. We went over this last night: we get Dr. Naka in, she finds Swift, the Morpher, and the Emerald, they find Frances, they heal her, and then we slip out with Swift and Frances in the back of dad's delivery truck."

"What is Ahaw Kin's alibi?" Tanaka questioned.

"Apparently," Ahaw Kin spoke up, "I am a foreign exchange student from Guatemala who is a part of Sonic's crush's 'Western Civilizations' class." As Chris blushed, Ahaw Kin continued, "Sonic is… 'hanging out' with me and Spike, welcoming us to America. I've already had a passport from a few times I've traveled into Guatemala."

"Okay," Karin announced, "that's something you and Spike are going to have to work on before we get in there… you guys calling Chris or Swift 'Sonic' is not a good idea in one of GUN's strongholds… we need to do this with some stealth, so you guys have to make sure that I don't get caught illegally entering the compound."

"Okay," Chris promised. "You know, this is the one time I'm glad my dad has been working on something so dangerous… hopefully, GUN will be busy playing with the Big Foot that they don't spot you."

"What exactly is GUN, anyways?" Spike spoke up with a question mark over his head. "You're not talking about a firearm, I'm assuming." Miles had a swirl over his head.

"I can't believe I know two individuals who don't know about the Guardian Units of Nations," the fox Chao groaned. "Well, let's make this quick… how much do you know about world history, you guys?"

"Not too much," Ahaw Kin replied. "What I do know is up to the late 1800s, I guess."

"Well, GUN popped up post-World War II," Chris explained. "After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces. However, the scars of nuclear warfare ran deep throughout the world, as well as other potential acts of terrorism. In order to prevent this, a portion the U.S. military decided to adopt a policy to counteract any form of terror in the world and starting policing the world. This is GUN- the Guardian Units of Nations. They were most active during the Cold War, crippling anything that could be harmful to not just America, but to other countries as well. However, GUN eventually became so successful that they practically _became_ America's military. You can't be a soldier in America anymore without being somehow involved with GUN. However, it's obvious some of the higher-ups in GUN are corrupt… there have been reports of supposed cover-ups, bribery, unauthorized missions, and unauthorized weaponry."

"And we're going up against them," Danny stated. "The leader of the outpost we're heading to has changed since we were here during flight test number twelve, so I have no idea who he or she is or what they are capable of. However, I think they were the one who sent those pilots on the day I became Tails."

"Alright," Chris acknowledged. "Let's not draw too much attention to ourselves, today. As far as dad knows, we're helping him… don't mention Frances."

"…We're going to die this time, aren't we?" Miles spoke up with a swirl over his head.

"Way to be the vote of confidence," Chris muttered. "If we stick to just small talk and nothing big, and Dr. Naka sneaks in, finds Swift and saves Frances, we'll get out of here intact."

"I have strong doubts things will work out that easily," Miles pointed out, "as they have Swift. Who knows what they're doing to him."

* * *

**GUN Fortress- Swift's Cell- 11:21**

Swift's head was lifted out of the water bucket, where he spat out quite a bit of water. "Where did you guys even get this old pail?" the Chao demanded, a swirl above his head- or rather, _below_ it as he was being held upside down.

"We'll be asking the questions, here, Chao," the female soldier holding him answered before dropping him on the bed that was provided. "Just tell us what we want, and we'll guarantee your safety."

"…You honestly think I'm going to believe that, don't you?" Swift stated. "What _do_ you want, anyways?"

"…Alright, smartass Chao," the soldier sighed, "I'll play your game. What we want is to answer our questions. When we captured you, you seemed to be after that bat Chao."

"Hey, she stole some things for me. If you guys are playing police, you can ask her, and she'd tell you that she kicked me first and stole from me!"

"You did strike back, though," the soldier commented. "However, I was told not to care about why you were fighting. What we care about… is what you were fighting over."

"Speaking of which, I'm going to want those back."

"Depending on what you tell us," the soldier responded, "you may get them back. Why on earth was it so important that you went after that bat Chao for a gem and a watch?"

"The gem belongs to my owner," Swift explained. "It's… a gift for his girlfriend." _**'Okay,'**_Swift admitted to himself, _**'not the coolest lie- using Helen to save face right there- but it wouldn't be smart to tell them why it's important.'**_

"And you're going to tell me that the watch was custom designed?" the soldier assumed.

"My owner's a billionaire," Swift shrugged. "It's natural for them to get flashy crap like that. He asked me to get it back, so I did. That's when your guys shot me with a tranquilizer, and I keep getting dunked in an old metal bucket."

"…Well, after checking your files, I would be inclined to believe you," the soldier commented. "It says here you are adopted by Christopher James Thorndyke."

"I've been meaning to ask him why his middle name is James," Swift verbally commented. "Just sounds odd for some reason."

"However, your fancy custom watch has a major contradiction," the soldier stated. "I've looked at the damn thing for the past two hours before interrogating you. It doesn't tell time… which means it's useless as a watch."

'…_**Note to self,'**_ Swift groaned in his head. _**'Next time we build a device that can alter human DNA and combine it with Mobian DNA through Chao that is conveniently disguised as a watch… actually install some sort of clockwork or digital watch as a cover!'**_ After thinking that and the woman left him, he then remembered what caused them to build the Morpher in the first place.

* * *

_**Flashback- 4 Months Ago at Swift and Miles' Hut**_

"_So,"_ _the hedgehog Chao asked as he finished a decent work bench for Miles, "how's your studying coming?"_

"_Well," Miles commented, "whoever owned these blueprints and this house before us… I'm going to put in the 'mad scientist' or 'failed genius' category. I have to say, whoever designed this thing really had plans for it, but never got to do so."_

"…_Whoever designed that thing had plans for a watch?" Swift asked with a question mark over his head._

"_This is more than just a watch," the fox Chao answered. "According to the blueprints, it's a Chaos Energy Powered Human-Chao Spiritual Unity Morpher, which- if this thing existed and worked- would allow a human and a Chao to become some sort of hybrid… almost like the Mobians of the old world."_

"…_Okay, how about we just take out all of that junk in the middle, and call it a 'Chaos Morpher'?" Swift suggested. "So, in short, this thing could bring about Mobian superheroes."_

"_Mobian superheroes?" Miles questioned. "Have you been reading comic books again?"_

"_That's kind of what the Mobians could have been to Chao had they not been wiped out," the hedgehog Chao argued. "They had super strength, speed, some could fly, others could breathe underwater, etcetera, etcetera. Had they not died out, we probably would have _them_ as the dominant species instead of centuries with humans."_

"_Many Mobian tribes have a history of being ruthless savages, Swift," Miles scowled. "So let's not fancy the possibility."_

"_So what else did you get from the blueprints?" Swift asked. Miles actually looked at Swift, an exclamation point over his head._

"…_Who are you and what you done with my best friend?" Miles asked. Swift blinked. "The Swift I know would _never_ be interested in stuff like this. Why now?"_

"_Because if what we've found out here is right," Swift insisted, "then we can use this to help people. You're super smart and I'm super fast; together we can figure this thing out and make this device to help people and Chao alike." Miles instantly turned away from the blueprints, fear on his face._

"_Are you nuts!" the fox Chao yelled. "We __**can't**__ do this! No way, no how, Swift! It's too dangerous!"_

"_And why the hell can't we pull this off?" the hedgehog Chao shrugged._

"_Have you ever considered what the DCS would do to us if this thing turns out to be a dangerous weapon and they catch us building it? Being _euthanized_ would be a blessing compared to what they'd do!"_

"_Have you considered the fact that I don't give a _**damn**_ about my standings with those old fogies who sit on their rumps halfway across the world and judge Chao's freedom in the pettiest ways imaginable?" Swift scowled. "I don't! And they shouldn't care if two Chao are building something. We have rights, too, on this planet."_

"_Yeah," Miles scowled. "But you're ignoring the fact that thing could be dangerous in the wrong hands. For argument's sake, we go through with this and it works. However, it ends up being taken from us and used as a device to cause harm. More often than not in your comics do those with powers use them in destructive ways, Swift! This thing can cause just as much harm as good. What's to say someone won't do so?"_

"_We won't let them," Swift answered. "Not while we're alive and keeping an eye out."_

"_This is still a risky idea," Miles scowled. "If this messes up, we'll go down in history as two Chao terrorists! I'd rather not be remembered as a criminal!"_

"_We were criminals the day we broke out of that Panamanian Chao Garden!" Swift declared. "You know the old saying, Miles: you can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs. Sacrifice is necessary."_

"_I know," Miles stated, "but we shouldn't take the risk without thinking this through. The point of this is if it works, we won't be able to have full say in what happens."_

"_I'll make sure that it will alright," Swift answered. "With this we can really help people. We'll be able to bring about a better future."_

"_Swift," Miles realized, "this whole thing seems way too important to you. Why have you always been so bent on helping others when it's not your problem? You helped me escape when you could have been gone on your own."_

"_Because I don't want to be like my dad," Swift answered. "You know I'm an orphan just like you, Miles. However, I did at least have my mom- not to rub it in your face or anything, but the point here is I _had_ my mom. Not my dad, though. He just left her with an Egg to go on some damn journey of his, only with the Chaos Ring Bracelet around my wrist for her to remember him bye. I don't even know if the bastard's alive; all I know is that he abandoned my mom for reasons unknown, and she died thinking that he'd come back. He never did, even long after my mother was gone._

"_I know I'm not the first case of abandonment- look at soldiers, children in bad families, orphans, hell, your own history, Miles. I want to find a way to make sure what I went through and what you went through doesn't have to happen to anyone else. We may even prioritize world peace by building this! And if this… 'Chaos Morpher' can bond Chao and Humans in a tighter way and save lives at the cost of going down a notorious terrorist, then Chaos damn my soul to hell right now." Miles looked at Swift, and sighed. He looked at the blueprints, and smiled._

"_Well Chaos damn my soul with you," the fox Chao said in defeat. "As much as I may regret this, I'll do it."_

"_Really?" Swift gasped with an exclamation point over his head._

"_One condition," Miles answered. "If we build this, we do this on my terms. If we have to acquire parts, it better not be anything too dangerous. The moment this thing becomes a super weapon, we scrap it and never build it again. We also burn the blueprints to this thing never sees the light of day."_

"_Deal," Swift replied. "Who knows where this will lead. Maybe it will have the opposite effect and instead of being terrorists, we'll go down as international heroes."_

"_You and your dreams, Swift," Miles commented. "Well, I'm honestly surprised, though- you didn't pull out a 'you owe me your life' card."_

"_It wasn't like they were going to kill us," Swift answered, "so I'd have to be an ass to do that to you. Now, let's get started on this."_

"_Hold it, Speedy Gonzales," the fox Chao replied. "This little hut may be far from civilization to keep a low profile, but this keeps us from nearby cities we can get the materials. We'll have to work for some time. Not to mention if we're going to be staying in this home, we'll need food. I'm not asking you to outright get a job or something… but we'll have to be careful when feeding ourselves."_

"_I haven't been caught yet," Swift smirked._

* * *

**Present- Prison Block C- 11:48**

Swift soon found himself in his shared cell with Ruby. Swift noticed the Chaos Energy coming in from the walls of the cell. While many people would think this would give Swift enough power to break out, it had a similar effect to the Dummy Rings Miles designed- because of the Chaos Energy from the walls. Swift's Chaos Energy levels were so over-stimulated that using his speed would be a bit much for him.

Once they closed the cell door, the bat Chao turned to the hedgehog Chao. "…So," Ruby asked, "What did they peg you with, sweetheart?"

"Nothing that'll interest you, bat girl," Swift scowled with a swirl above his head. "The sooner I get out of here, the better."

"Not with GUN taking such an interest in you," Ruby replied. "They really have a thing for mutant Chao like you."

"And you're not?" Swift asked as the swirl faded.

"Do I look like a mutant Chao?" the bat Chao questioned. "You see, unlike you, I have a comfortable Chaos Energy level of 52 percent. You, though, have Chaos Energy coming out of your ears."

"And I'm proud of it," Swift commented. Turning from Ruby, he spotted the door. "So, bat girl… do you have any ideas on how to break that door?"

"Why would I do something like that?" Ruby asked in an innocent tone, a question mark over her head. "I don't want to be a bad girl…."

"This seriously coming from a thief?" Swift questioned the sarcasm obvious. "Come on, you have to have a plan for escape for when you get caught."

"Yeah," Ruby smiled as her question mark faded. "It's called, 'not getting caught thanks to a Chao that doesn't know when to quit."

"…I hate it when you're right," the hedgehog Chao scowled, a swirl over his head. Soon, the two heard footsteps coming their way.

"But, in case I ever do get caught," Ruby announced, "I have at least one back-up plan." Soon, the cell opened, and in walked Maggie.

"Alright, Ruby," Maggie said in a somewhat annoyed tone. "Come on… let's hide you before GUN finds out."

"Thank you very much, Maggie dearest," Ruby smiled as she jumped off the bed she was sitting on, a heart above her head.

"'Maggie'?" Swift asked as a question mark over his head. Ruby smiled as she was picked up by Maggie. Swift quickly connected the two dots in his head as to how the two knew each other. "Wait, your owner is a GUN agent? _**THAT'S**_ how you've found out about all of those gemstones you've gone around the world stealing, and why GUN hasn't caught you, yet?"

"You have to know the right people on the inside, sweetheart," Ruby giggled. "See you later, hedgehog."

"Wait," Swift gasped with an exclamation point over his head, "you're not taking me with you?"

"It's your fault we got caught," Ruby replied with a shrug as Maggie grabbed the cell door. "So, I'm leaving you in here. This really should make us even."

_**SLAM!**_

Swift found himself alone in the cell as Ruby and Maggie walked away. "…I really, _**REALLY**_ hate her." Swift commented.

* * *

**GUN Fortress Exterior- 12:00**

"Hey, Chris!" Nelson Thorndyke greeted his son as he and his friends exited the car. Chris smiled at his dad as he approached. Father and son embraced in a casual hug, while Tanaka smiled at the two of them.

"It's good to see you again, Master Nelson," Tanaka began with a polite bow. "I trust you're in good health?"

"I've been taking care of myself, Eddie," Nelson chuckled. Looking at Ahaw Kin, he asked, "Aren't you that tour guide from that Mayan city?"

"He's a foreign exchange student in Helen's Western Civilization class," Chris quickly filled in. "Allow me to formally introduce my new friend, Ahaw Kin."

"It is an honor to meet you again, Mr. Thorndyke," Ahaw Kin smiled as he extended his hand and shook Nelson's.

"Well," Nelson chuckled, "the same to you, Mr. Kin." Turning to the others, he smiled, "Follow me." As the group walked, Nelson asked, "How's my dad doing, Chris?"

"Grandpa's fine for now," Chris replied. "However, with his work stacking up, he's rather busy today."

"That's a shame," Nelson sighed. "It would be better if all three of us Thorndyke men were here to witness the Big Foot tests, but if his work's stacking up… though that's strange. He's always taken pride in being immersed in his work. Not like my dad to be distracted like that."

"Mr. Thorndyke," Karin questioned, changing the subject, "about the Big Foot… what's it supposed to do, anyways?"

"That's highly classified, ma'am," a feminine voice Chris was rather familiar with. He turned to see a light brown haired woman wearing a GUN uniform approaching them. "As a matter of fact, miss, only those affiliated with Mr. Nelson Thorndyke are permitted on the grounds right now. His son and his butler I understand, but I don't know about you and the other two kids. I'm afraid for your safety and that of GUN's secrets I'm going to have to ask you and the kids to leave-"

"Dr. Naka here is Master Chris' personal Chao doctor," Tanaka explained, pointing to Miles and Spike on the ground, the former awkwardly waving and the latter crossing his arms. "And Master Daniel and Master Ahaw Kin are Master Chris' guests. I promise on my honor that they will give you no trouble, Miss…"

"Stone," the woman answered. "Topaz Stone." Looking at Karin, she asked, "I take it you're from Station Square, Dr. Naka?"

"Yes," Karin answered. "Why? What does that have to do with the Big Foot?"

"So, you're directly aware of Sonic the Hedgehog and his band of vigilantes that have been operating in Station Square," Topaz continued. "Believe it or not, Colonel Passer and several individuals within GUN have deemed Team Sonic as a domestic terrorist. I myself have had a close encounter with Sonic myself. I almost died in my chase because I was careless. I can't afford to let myself lose to Sonic again."

"Well, that doesn't answer my question," Karin commented.

"I suppose I'll have to be blunt," Topaz sighed. "Wherever Sonic the Hedgehog is, usually the _**true**_ terrorist Dr. Robotnik is, too. And the Big Foot- a fully armored combat walker- will be able to deal with both Sonic and Robotnik." This caused Chris, Danny, and Karin to stop dead in their tracks as the others walked.

"…Wait, what?" Chris questioned.

* * *

**Human Card:** Agent Topaz Stone

**Occupation:** GUN Soldier (Black Ops), Pilot

**Known Family:** Unknown

**Hobbies:** Writing, Mechanical work

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: Okay… I've finally finished this. Sorry for the delay, but… you know, real life sucks at times and I have other projects. Also, just thought I'd let you know that starting as of today, _Sonic Chao Chronicles_ will also be on my deviantART page, "BladeSquall". Also, thank you for 150 comments!

Unfortunately Edge is sick right now, and Swift's still in a cell. However, Edge has told me that he will get back to your reviews next year, and he'll drag Topaz into the booth whether she likes it or not. Happy New Year's, everybody! Here's hoping 2012 doesn't result in the end of the world! Kingdom Rider92 out!


	28. Episode 10, Part 2

A/N: Sorry for the delay in your _Sonic Chao Chronicles…_ but 2012 was a pretty poor year for me, here. Anyways, hoping this makes up for it.

* * *

**Human Card:** Colonel Card Passer

**Occupation:** GUN Colonel, CLIP Commanding Officer

**Known Family:** None

**Hobbies:** Weaponry, Hunting Sonic

* * *

**GUN HQ Exterior- 12:24**

"So let me get this straight," Chris commented to his father as they witnessed a large combat walker mech being rolled out from the back of a truck. "GUN paid you to design giant robots that are to be piloted by humans for the sole purpose of hunting down Robotnik and Sonic?"

"After the incident in Guatemala where I met Sonic in person," Nelson replied silently, "I initially was against it. However, we've already been paid for the things months in advance, and publicly Sonic is on the fence between superhero and vigilante. Besides, Robotnik is the primary target of these things, not a Mobian hedgehog."

"…What exactly is your stance on Sonic?" Chris questioned.

"I never told you?" Nelson asked, nervousness hinted in his voice.

"Not really, dad. That was _mom_ who's made it obvious she approves of him, not you."

"…Oh." Nelson awkwardly chuckled. "Well, son… I _**want**_ to say that I don't trust him considering his outward appearance… but he and his team did save our lives in Guatemala, and, according to reports, he's saved your girlfriend's life twice now. I personally feel like I owe Sonic somehow." Chris blushed at the indirect mention of Helen. "Oh… you and Helen _**still**_ aren't dating?"

"Dad…" Chris said through gritted teeth.

Sensing his son wanted to change the topic, Nelson agreed to it. "Okay, anyways , Chris, I'm afraid my hands are tied in this. If the Big Foot can help GUN protect America from terrorism in exchange for sort of betraying someone who I owe, then that's going to be a sacrifice. It's nothing personal between me and Sonic… I just hope that this never has to be used."

"Dad," Chris asked, "what about that other project of yours?"

"Project Extreme Gear?" Nelson asked, remembering that project. Nelson knew that well- a rather passive idea compared to the Big Foot, the Extreme Gear was the concept of creating a series of high-speed mobile transportation devices consisting of hover boards, air skates, and even hover scooters, to allow people comfort of traveling at the speed of the wind. It was something Chris, Sam, Chuck and Nelson all agreed on (which Lindsey was shocked that all four of the males she was close to by either marriage or blood actually occurred, as at least one of them disagreed on something).

Nelson sighed. "I'm still having trouble getting it approved by the board," Meteor Tech's CEO announced. "Some members in our military's pocket argue that since we have always made weapons for the military- in fact, a majority of the mechs you've seen used by GUN are a result of the company- that a rather passive idea would ruin our relationship with GUN and they would stop being our primary benefactor. Some insist that while this would decrease fuel costs due to how it runs on air power and can run on solar panels with the right adjustment, we would be dangerously making automobiles obsolete too soon. Finally, there are those who think this would only appease the younger crowd. Your Uncle Sam disagrees with this notion, of course, but he's not a Meteor Tech employee and his car was actually designed by us, so his opinion doesn't help my case."

"So still nothing, huh?" Chris asked.

"I'm afraid not," Nelson groaned. "I love the idea, and if I could get it approved, I damn well would. However, today is not the day. Anyways, how about we just watch the weapon demonstration and get this over with. The sooner we're done with things here, the better."

"Agreed," Chris nodded with his father. As they turned to the Big Foot, Chris noticed out of the corner of his eye the door to the facility closing, and, looking around, he saw that Karin Naka was no longer there.

Good… enough time was bought for Karin to get in. Well, that was the good thing about today.

However, that was the simple version. She had to sneak through an entire military facility undetected to find at least Swift to rescue him. From there, the two would have to rescue Frances before the rest of the GUN agents caught onto them.

Karin had probably the hardest job in the world right now.

"Okay," Nelson announced to the gathering GUN officers who had come to see the demonstration. "As you all know, this is Meteor Tech's newest combat walker: the F-6 Big Foot." Pointing to the empty cockpit, Nelson explained, "From this bulletproof cockpit, the pilot would have full access to a wide range of homing missiles, such as Slammers, Sidewinders, and Sparrows. Not only that, but this baby can take a beating."

"So this walker is specifically ground-based?" a GUN officer questioned. "Doesn't seem useful against flyers apart from the homing missiles."

"I'm actually working on a flying variation of the Big Foot right now," Nelson stated. "One that can fly indefinitely. However, that's not to say its big brother can't be useful in the air, though…" Turning to the pilot that had climbed in, he asked, "Hit the bright blue button, will you?"

"Uh, okay…" After the cockpit was closed, the pilot pressed the aforementioned button… and amazed the audience as the legs to the Big Foot suddenly retracted upwards towards the main body before igniting with rocket boosters, hovering in the air. While Chris was amazed by this, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Danny writing down notes.

"Danny," Chris whispered, "should I be worried about your sudden interest in my dad's machine?"

"Just thinking of possible upgrades for the _Tornado,"_ Danny replied. "Maybe a combat walker mode is just what we need in the case we get into a huge firefight."

"A combat walker mode?" Chris chuckled. "Next thing you know, you'll want to turn the _Tornado_ into a jet or a car. Is this seriously how you spend your free time when you're not working with us or at school?"

"Well what do you do when you're not busy doing school or Sonic work?" Danny whispered to Chris in an accusatory manner. "You tinker with your grandpa's inventions, too."

"…Point proven."

* * *

**GUN Base Interior- 12:45**

"I'm extremely disappointed in you, Ruby," Maggie scowled as she walked through the halls, the Chao on her shoulder. "It's one thing you stole again, but to get arrested and I have to risk my career to get you out?"

"It's not my fault this time, in case you forgot," Ruby said with a swirl over her head. "It was that hedgehog Chao's fault. I hope GUN finds out what makes him tick so I can break it."

"Ruby," Maggie scowled, "it's not his fault your jewel kleptomania hasn't stopped, yet." The Chao looked down at Maggie. "Listen, Ruby. I know it's a hard habit to kick, but it's something you have to. After all, my uncle was the one who took us in when mom and dad died. He got us both off of the streets in New York. He got me into GUN when I'm still in high school myself. He knew the kind of trouble the two of us used to get into, yet he covered for us, and still does. We owe it to him to go clean."

"Maggie," Ruby replied, "don't think I'm not thankful for your uncle, but old habits die hard. And besides, that's no ordinary jewel I fought that stubborn hedgehog Chao for. It's bigger than an ordinary jewel."

"…And you assume I care?" Maggie asked.

"You will when you find out what it is," Ruby slyly grinned, a heart over her head.

"Still," Maggie interrupted, "I warned you what would happen if you got into trouble again." Maggie then stopped at a room that was labeled, "CHAO REGISTRATION". Ruby's heart turned straight into an exclamation point.

"No… I'm not doing it," Ruby breathed. "I'm not working for these soldier boys."

"Too bad, sweetheart," Maggie replied, seriousness in her tone. "I told you if you got into one more once of trouble, it would be GUN boot camp for you. However, when you're done, I'll see to it you join me and Topaz. Welcome to the Guardian Units of Nations."

As Ruby grumbled in protest while she and Maggie went inside the registration room, neither of them noticed Karin peaking into the hallway, looking around for any sign of life. When she didn't see anybody, she sighed in relief.

"Now," Karin muttered to herself, "if I was a mutant Chao with a lot of Chaos Energy, where would they lock me up?" The scientist proceeded down the corridor, hoping to find Swift before someone found her.

After a few minutes of walking, she heard banging. "Let me out of here!" a small certain voice growled. "You can't hold me forever!" Karin looked at the cell door, and sighed.

"You make it too easy, you little speed demon," the Chao doctor muttered with a smile. "Now, about letting you out-"

"HEY!" a masculine voice spoke up, stopping Karin in her tracks. She turned to see a GUN soldier walking over to her, his face masked under the armor. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Well, um," Karin began, "I was just-"

"Doctor," the soldier commented, "if it's about the girl with Chaos energy radiation, she's three floors down! That's just a small yet dangerous prisoner in there- some sort of mutant Chao if I've ever seen one. Really fast yet impatient. I wouldn't risk going into a Chaos energy cell, anyways!"

"…Oh," Karin blushed, realizing the soldier mistook her for the Chaos energy doctor. Well, this worked in her favor. "Sorry. Anyways, though… I may need a Chao for this."

"What?" the soldier asked. "Ma'am, with all due respect, why would you need a Chao? And why him?"

"Well," Karin explained, "believe it or not, even though we humans may not be one-hundred percent immune to Chaos energy's side-effects, Chao certainly are basically the intelligent life equivalent of cockroaches when it comes to all kinds of radiation, Chaos energy especially. They feed off of it, actually. Why do you think there were very little Chao casualties of the atomic bombings in World War II? I mean, yes, hydrogen was used, but the nuclear energy that affected Hiroshima and Nagasaki also increased Chaos energy outputs." The soldier blinked again. "Furthermore, he's a mutant Chao, right? Well, he should have no trouble helping out with this. If he does this well, we can let him go."

"Okay," the soldier commented. "If it will help." The soldier then walked towards the cell, and opened up, allowing Swift to tumble out of it and onto the floor. The soldier then picked him up, and handed him to Karin. "Don't do anything stupid, Chao."

"I won't," Swift said, an annoyed swirl over his head. The hedgehog Chao then looked at Karin, who looked annoyed at something. "Is there something wrong?"

"Other than the fact that I nearly messed up my own first field mission?" Karin whispered. "Well, I just realized I just signed my own paperwork for a suite in hell for what I just said." Swift's swirl turned into a question mark at the statement.

"So…" Swift asked, awkwardly, "where's Chris?"

Karin answered, "He's watching stuff blow up for what I feel like has been months. It's how we got in. Now, let's save Frances before something bad happens."

* * *

**Exterior- 13:00**

_**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!**_

Chris' group took shelter behind the blast shields as the Big Foot's weapons test was completed. Chris looked up at the destruction that the Big Foot left on the field- targets everywhere were annihilated by the missiles and machine gun. Needless to say, he was hoping to repair Sonic's reputation as fast as the hedgehog could run.

Topaz whistled next to him. "I'd hate to be Robotnik or Sonic and go against that thing!"

Chris muttered, "I'd hate to go up against that without knowing how."

Nelson questioned, "So, boys. How was that?"

Ahaw Kin asked, "Don't you think that was a little excessive with the firepower?"

"Kid," Card Passer commented as he walked over, "you clearly don't know how GUN works." Topaz quietly saluted. "At ease, Agent Stone." Turning back to Ahaw Kin, he continued, "Firepower is everything in war. The side that wins usually has the best guns. Our organization, the Guardian Units of Nations, was created to have the best weaponry at our disposal. Many people believe that the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. Well, I'm not one of them. The best weapon is the one you have that can counter any threat. And with guns like these, our enemies have no chance. You picked a fine day to be friends with a billionaire's son. Otherwise, you wouldn't get to see this once-in-a-lifetime demonstration."

Chris then questioned, "Do you think that there will be any reason to ever use the Big Foot?"

"I sure hope so, kid," Passer grinned, much to Chris' discomfort. "As long as there are threats to America and the free world like Dr. Robotnik or that blue hedgehog running around, there will always be a use for the Big Foot. We need its power and weaponry to destroy our enemies and make sure nothing can stop us."

"_Precisely why Doctor Robotnik would probably want it destroyed,"_ a robotic voice interrupted. Chris, Danny, Miles, Ahaw Kin, and Spike all looked up to see Decoe and Bocoe piloting Robotnik's "Egg Mobile", floating down to them. _"Greetings, humans,"_ the golden Decoe spoke up.

Chris scowled. "These guys," the younger Thorndyke commented coldly. This did not go unnoticed by Danny.

"Chris," the pilot commented, "you seem a little peeved."

"Oh, I'm very peeved," Chris replied with a whisper. "These guys kidnapped Helen, ambushed you, and held my parents hostage. And now, they're after the Big Foot. I'm not letting them get away with all of that."

"I have to say, robots," Passer commented, "you must really have the guts to try to assault a GUN Base by yourselves. We have several armed personal and every single one of them can be called up here to raise hell on you two. If you want to prolong you remaining functional until you tell us where Robotnik is and what he's up to, I suggest you surrender right now."

Bocoe and Decoe looked at each other, their eyelids lowered. _"He seriously thinks we were programmed to be stupid?"_ Bocoe commented. _"If our predecessors were here, this might have worked."_

"_Lucky for us,"_ Decoe replied, _"Mechs Scratch and Grounder were salvaged prototypes by the Doctor's hand for being so stupid, and what was left of Scratch's processor was in the Egg Rooster. That was the first elite robot destroyed by Sonic. As for Grounder… well, the doctor planned on using his drill nose for a mobile mining operation."_

"I take it you two aren't going to comply," Passer assumed. "Well, if you two aren't stupid, you're having a difficult time convincing me. Does that hovercraft even have guns?"

"_Not yet,"_ the golden robot replied. _"Oh, by the way… about coming alone? We didn't."_ All of the sudden, the sky above the base became dark. Soon enough, several Egg Pawns and Beetles landed or flew down, guns ready. _"Do not resist, humans,"_ Decoe warned. _"We just want a few things, and we'll be on our way."_

"A few things?" Topaz asked, holding her gun towards the two robots in their hovercraft, Bocoe checking a screen.

"…_It's underground,"_ Bocoe announced. _"We'll have to access the main base."_

Chris, Danny, and Ahaw Kin all realized what was going on right away as they took cover. "The Chaos Emerald," Chris breathed. "They know its here!"

"That is unfortunate," Ahaw Kin agreed. "If we cannot stop the robots from breaching the base before Dr. Naka completes her objectives, then we may not be able to save your Frances. We must change into Tails and Knuckles."

"Great idea," Danny sarcastically agreed. "Let's change into Neo Mobians right in the middle of a Mexican standoff, not only exposing ourselves, but getting us shot by either the military or Robotnik's robots."

"But we're not in Mexico," Spike commented.

"Sarcasm," Miles sighed with a swirl over his head, "you are lost on this poor Chao and his owner."

"We cannot just do nothing," Ahaw Kin replied. "We have to stop Robotnik's forces."

"Look here, metal heads," Passer spoke up. "I don't know why you're here, and frankly I don't give a damn as to why you're here. However, there is no way you're going to step one foot into my base. I have plenty of soldiers who would gladly sacrifice themselves to keep you from getting your oily little hands on GUN technology."

"Uh, sir," Topaz spoke up, "not to be rude, but there are civilians present! One of whom is our client!"

"Not to mention that the doctor in treating Chaos Energy has arrived on base and is inside," another soldier commented.

"What?" Passer questioned. "I never actually called for a real doctor…."

"We need Swift," Chris whispered. "As Sonic, I'd be able to do a lot of damage quickly. Is there any way to reach Dr. Naka?"

"No," Danny replied. "The base kills all radio and even cell signals in and out unless under a secure feed. Dr. Naka was alone the moment she stepped into the base." Chris sighed as the gunfire started, and Nelson scrambled for cover with the help of Tanaka.

"Swift," Chris breathed, "hurry."

* * *

**Interior- Radiation Decontamination Chamber- 13:12**

"I'm just saying I want one of those suits of yours," Swift announced while holding the Chaos Emerald. After coming downstairs, Karin was fitted with a radiation-proof suit and demanded the Chaos Emerald and the purple Morpher for the operation. Now, Swift was holding the yellow Emerald up while Karin was fitting the unconscious Frances with the Morpher.

"When Chao stop being able to convert Chaos energy into a life-sustaining subsistence and are no longer immune to radiation, then they'll start making suits in your size," Karin waved off before looking down at Frances. She was surprised that the burns inflicted by the Emerald in the first place on her hands had already healed up. "Frances may have had her first solidified Chaos energy exposure," the doctor mused, "but if she's developed some sort of rapid healing like Chao and Mobians when it comes to fire, then maybe this accident can produce a new set of humans."

"New set of humans?" Swift asked, a question mark over his head. "You mean Frances could be a mutant case?"

"Yes," Karin answered while activating the Morpher. "Chris' report of his… encounter with Frances after you left to chase down the Emerald thief was that she developed some sort of pyrokinetic abilities and now knows he's Sonic. Rumors of autopsies upon the bodies other patients with a similar condition hint that had they survived their exposure, they would have had similar powers developing. This is precisely the reason why we can't lose Frances to GUN if she wakes up from this extraction of more Chaos Energy- the last thing we need is to hand GUN a new weapon."

"…Pyrokinesis is the ability to control fire, right?" Swift asked. "Considering what happened with this duel emerald, I was thinking Frances had lightning powers. Like weather control or something neat like that. She would be like that comic book character I read about. What was her name, again? Storm?"

"If Chaos Emeralds ever give someone to control weather," Karin replied, "then I would be worried. Start absorbing the energy, Swift."

"Got it," Swift agreed, focusing on extracting the Chaos Energy with the Morpher into the Emerald. Just like Karin predicted before, using the Emerald that caused Frances' condition as well as an unused Morpher seemed to speed up the process of draining Frances' Chaos energy build-up.

"It's working," Karin declared, looking at the Morpher. "The Morpher's taking up the energy. Swift, we did it. Just a few minutes of this and Frances will be stabilized."

"Thank Chaos," the hedgehog Chao smiled, a heart over his head. All of the sudden, the base shook causing the heart to turn into an exclamation point. "Dr. Naka… please tell me it's more field tests to that weapon Chris' dad built."

"I honestly want to say 'yes'," Karin replied, not looking up. "We better hurry up and finish the extraction before Frances wakes up, Swift. Who knows if that was a one-time thing?"

"Yeah," Swift agreed. "But if Frances does wake up and try to attack the closest living thing to her, do you know any karate?"

"No."

"Taijitsu?"

"No."

"Xiaolin?"

"No."

"Kung-fu?"

"No self-defense martial arts of any kind!" Karin snapped. "I earned my doctorates in either medicine or studying Chaos Energy. I didn't think I would end up joining a team of super-heroes as their Chaos Energy computer genius."

"…Not even wrestling?"

"Swift, focus!" Karin yelled, causing the Chao to flinch with a swirl over his head. Karin, sensing she hurt his feelings, sighed, "Look, I'm sorry. I'm not a fighter like you and Chris. Which is why if something happens, I'll need you here to help me out."

Swift calmed down, and focused on Frances. "Don't worry, Frances… we're here for ya," the hedgehog Chao told her unconscious form. "This'll all be over, soon."

Soon, the two were interrupted by the sound of alarms ringing throughout the facility and the door opening up. "You two," the soldier yelled at them, causing Swift and Karin to turn their heads. "We can't stay here! The base is under attack by Robotnik forces!"

"What?!" Swift asked, nearly dropping the Chaos Emerald. To Karin, he whispered, "How in Chaos' name did Eggman find us?"

"One," Karin corrected, "his name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Get it right, Swift. And two, it's not like GUN actually _hides_ their headquarters, Swift."

"Come on, you two," the guard nodded. "We have to evacuate all nonessential personal. GUN will not be held responsible for what happens to you if you don't!"

"But we can't just leave this innocent girl to die," Karin argued. "We need a few more minutes, I swear!"

While looking at Frances, Swift had to think about the situation. On one hand, Frances needed a bit longer to get enough Chaos Energy out of her to have non-fatal levels left. Also, if Frances got free and was not able to control herself, Karin had no chance against a pyrokinetic Frances. On the other hand, if what the soldier said was true, Chris needed him. No doubt Chris could survive without him, but Chris' father was not a Neo Mobian and by extension lacked the faster healing or survival instincts that Chris had. Nelson would no doubt be caught in the crossfire between GUN and Robotnik.

No matter which choice Swift made, no doubt someone would get hurt in the next few minutes at best, _**die**_ at worst.

With a swirl over his head, Swift asked himself, "Why does being a superhero mean making tough choices?"

* * *

**Robot Card:** Big Foot

**Model:** F-6 Walker Unit

**Equipment:** Gatling gun, heavy armor, heat-sinking missles, hover technology

**Purpose:** Combat riding mech, combatting Robotnik forces... destroying Sonic

* * *

Kingdom Rider92's Notes: So… it's been over a year if memory serves. And I'm sorry for it. But between school, work, looking for work, writer's block, briefly losing interest in this story and trying to upload it to deviantART, then somewhat getting back onto this story, I've got a lot of things going on and this wasn't on my priority list. This chapter… well, it just plain sucked for me to write.

So, to make it up to you, I'm going to give you all a new poll on my page. Who do you think Swift ought to save? Either way, Sonic WILL show up next chapter...

Aw, who am I kidding? You guys are pissed! I have a lot of making up to do in 2013! I'll go through and personally answer all comments. Kingdom Rider92, out!


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